Cy WolfJun 14, 2023
Paul Fairie
On Nostalgia
1927
Jun 13, 2023 at 8:53pmWeb
Show threadGreg StolzeJun 13, 2023

@paulisci I mean, yeah? You ask most people when times were good, and then calculate how old they were then, and you get… the age when every adult is conspiring to keep scary and ugly news from reaching you.

Probably just a weird coincidence though.

Show threadCthulku has movedJun 13, 2023
@paulisci I read somewhere that nostalgia is a form of mourning, and I found that to be very enlightening.
Show threadDisco SexualJun 14, 2023
@cthulku @paulisci please elaborate! That sounds intriguing
Show threadCthulku has movedJun 14, 2023
@bezorp Think back to when you last indulged in nostalgia. Maybe a chat with a friend about the old times, a fun event or what have you. Compare that to how people reminisce about someone who has died: it's basically the same, except that the reminiscence isn't about processing a person's death, but rather the passage of one's own life. It could be framed as mourning oneself, or one's past selves, even.
Show threadDisco SexualJun 16, 2023

@cthulku ahh, I see what you mean. I was thinking of enjoying re-experiencing old media, or talking about how great they are again and again. But that is totally different from the experience of reminiscing.

In the latter case I guess it's because the source of enjoyment has been removed, so you only have the leftover fumes in your own memory to experience, so to speak.

Really fascinating. Makes one realise what clumsy languages we have for speaking about emotions/experiences.

Show threadShantell PowellJun 13, 2023
@paulisci forty years ago, the air wasn’t full of forest fire smoke. It was full of leaded gas fumes.
Show threadShantell PowellJun 13, 2023
@paulisci but forty years ago, I could drink the water from streams. Now they’re all polluted.
Show threadKatie FJun 14, 2023

@Shanmonster @paulisci What streams were you drinking from in 1980? Besides parasites, there are many *many* examples of contaminated waterways that predate 1980. Not just love canal.

But keep in mind that PFAS might scare you now but it was invented in the 1960's and was in extremely broad use throughout the 70's.

Show threadShantell PowellJun 14, 2023
@paulisci @KatieLoves2Read I lived out in the bush, not close to any cities.
Show threadKagan MacTane (he/him)Jun 14, 2023

@Shanmonster @paulisci And oh, the biting irony of the causal connection between those two things!

😢💔

Show threadVic McFizzlesticksJun 13, 2023
@paulisci I'm inclined to agree with you, except fascism.
Show threadeuroplus Jun 13, 2023
@paulisci 40 years ago was pretty shit for me. I was 15. 50 years ago, too. I’ve escaped from my false nostalgia for those times by being honest with myself. So definitely for me, nostalgia isn’t what it used to be! 🤣
Show threadDisco SexualJun 14, 2023
@europlus @paulisci congratulations on breaking free. I'm not sure I'll ever get there
Show threadeuroplus Jun 14, 2023
@bezorp @paulisci I’ve broken free from the false nostalgia, but it’s left me with memories of trauma, neglect and abuse, so it’s been a bit of a slog. Better to face up to it for what it was, though. Hope you get wherever you need to be 💗
Show threadKevin RussellJun 13, 2023

@paulisci

Being younger was better forty years ago, the young are better now, but just because they were forced to be b the bullies left in office all over the place.

Show threadferricoxideJun 13, 2023
@paulisci

40 years younger and memory tends to be selective (and favors the positive memories).
Show threadRobertWTJun 14, 2023
@paulisci that's the problem with nostalgia... It ain't what it used to be...
Show threadold_tootbruteJun 14, 2023
@paulisci fair.
Show threadalcinnzJun 14, 2023
@paulisci I'd also say, when looking back at the past we tend to focus on the best of it! Especially when it comes to culture.
Show threadMiaJun 14, 2023
@paulisci
This is a disease.
Show threadKatie FJun 14, 2023

@paulisci These scientists just reproved that people remember the past with rose color in new study in Nature.

https://www.axios.com/2023/06/10/morality-illusion-science-beliefs

Many people believe morality is declining — but it may be an illusion

A new study looks at people's views of kindness, respect and honesty around the world and over seven decades.

Axios
Show threadEphemeralTaoJun 16, 2023

@paulisci

nostalgia is necrophilia