THE
ZEIGARNIK EFFECT

Topics: Emotions; Failure; Human Condition; Limitations; Psychology; Regret

References: 1 Kings 19:1–9; John 21:15–19

Failures take on a life of their own because the brain remembers incomplete tasks or failures longer than success or completed activity. That is called the “Zeigarnik effect.” When a project or a thought is completed, the brain places it in a special memory. The brain no longer gives the project priority or active working status, and bits and pieces of the achieved situation begin to decay.

But failures have no closure. The brain continues to spin the memory, trying to come up with ways to fix the mess and move it from active to inactive status.

—Perry Buffington, “Forgive or Forget,” Universal Press Syndicate (August 29, 1999)