Your Memory Has a Beauty Filter, and It's On by Default

"The dark dawning of our modern day, in which we can neither bear our immoralities nor face the remedies needed to cure them" could be a comment under tonight's news, but the Roman historian Livy wrote it more than 2,000 years ago. People have been sure things used to be better for a very long time. Here's how your memory polishes the past, what more than 12 million survey answers from at least 60 countries say about whether people are really getting worse, and how to enjoy nostalgia without getting fooled by it. Chapters 0:00 Livy's complaint 0:31 Worst. Trip. Ever. 1:03 The rosy view 1:37 Why the bad parts fade 1:54 12 million answers, 70 years 2:36 The year you were born 3:12 Not everyone is convinced 3:32 Y2K's turn 4:07 Nostalgia, once a disease 4:26 What nostalgia is good for 4:49 Lonely, then nostalgic 5:07 Use it, but check it 5:22 Text someone who was there Sources (including a critique of the moral-decline study) Mitchell et al., 1997, "Temporal Adjustments in the Evaluation of Events: The 'Rosy View'", Journal of Experimental Social Psychology: https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1997.1333 Mastroianni & Gilbert, 2023, "The illusion of moral decline", Nature: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... Smith, Smith & Stocks, 2023, "The Illusion of the Illusion of Moral Decline", Against Professional Philosophy (an essay, not peer reviewed): https://againstprofphil.org/2023/07/0... Levinson, 2024, "The People Obsessed With Using Obsolete, Y2K Technology as Decor", Dwell: https://www.dwell.com/article/early-a... Sedikides et al., 2008, "Nostalgia: Past, Present, and Future", Current Directions in Psychological Science: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2... Wildschut et al., 2006, "Nostalgia: Content, triggers, functions", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.91.... Zhou et al., 2008, "Counteracting Loneliness: On the Restorative Function of Nostalgia", Psychological Science: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2... Hofer, 1688, "Dissertatio medica de nostalgia", Basel (English translation by C. K. Anspach, 1934, "Medical Dissertation on Nostalgia"), summarized here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalgia The skits and the camping trip are made up; Livy's line, the rosy-view, moral-decline and nostalgia studies, the Dwell profile and the 1688 dissertation are real. Doodle Psych is for education and curiosity, not professional advice. #nostalgia #memory #psychology