About the link “Every Generation Thinks People Were Nicer in the Past”.
[From the linked article]. “the biased memory effect. When people think of positive and negative events from the past, they’re more likely to forget the negative ones or misremember them in a positive light”
I agree there is a biased memory effect but I think it’s a bit more complicated. I think many people, probably most but certainly not all, remember childhood as carefree, good times surrounded by caring parents, kindly relatives, and most other adults were friendly toward children. I think that childhood experience for most of us is imprinted in our memories and colors our remembrance of the past.
btw, I grew up quite poor in America, and as a child wore hand me down clothes after my older cousins wore them. I still have pleasant memories of my childhood. My spouse grew up poor on a Sicilian farm and has similar memories. As she put it, “We were all poor. No one felt bad about it”.
About the link “Every Generation Thinks People Were Nicer in the Past”.
[From the linked article]. “the biased memory effect. When people think of positive and negative events from the past, they’re more likely to forget the negative ones or misremember them in a positive light”
I agree there is a biased memory effect but I think it’s a bit more complicated. I think many people, probably most but certainly not all, remember childhood as carefree, good times surrounded by caring parents, kindly relatives, and most other adults were friendly toward children. I think that childhood experience for most of us is imprinted in our memories and colors our remembrance of the past.
btw, I grew up quite poor in America, and as a child wore hand me down clothes after my older cousins wore them. I still have pleasant memories of my childhood. My spouse grew up poor on a Sicilian farm and has similar memories. As she put it, “We were all poor. No one felt bad about it”.