Why do people tend to view the past through rose-colored glasses?

[raccoon]

Is it just human nature? :shrug:

[PDJane]

1. Long-term memory loss.

And yes, it's human nature to 'rosy' the past.

[wtmusic]

2. We're all naive when we're young. nt

[SoCalDem]

3. In our "past", we were young, healthy, and optimistic

who woudn't want to re-visit it:)

[slampoet]

4. The body also has a limited memory for physical pain. The memory of a broken leg fades over time.

[goddess40]

5. to avoid taking responsiblity

people that voted for Bush will remember nothing of the bullshit. Just like the German's that sat by and let Hitler do his thing or helped him after the war decided they didn't know the prison camps existed or that whole sale slaughter took place on their streets.

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. The certainty of a not-so-good past is better than the uncertainty of a possibly worse future

Human memory is highly malleable. Memories that get refreshed often tend to have a lot of staying power, while memories that do not get refreshed often tend to fade. We generally remember good times rather than bad, and revisit happy memories rather than unhappy ones, with the result that the past tends to get rosier and rosier. Then add in that humans are inherently conservative, and as a rule will pick something that is known over something that is unknown. The end result is that the appearance of knowledge about how seemingly rosy the past was will usually get selected over the uncertainly of the future.

[RaleighNCDUer]

7. It is a peculiarity.

I tend to remember a few years (many years ago) between my marriages as the best years of my life. But during that time was I homeless for a while. Drinking myself insensible every night. I once calculated I was making $800/mo, but to drink as much as I did I had to spend $900/mo.

At the same time I felt so alive, I was always diving into interesting situations, meeting interesting people, and managing to not get arrested for them.

Today I'm sober, responsible, and bored.

Rose colored glasses?

[raccoon]

8. No offense meant, but maybe you're addicted to excitement.

Often people from seriously dysfunctional homes are addicted to excitement. They need the excitement to feel alive.

I work with somebody like this. If there isn't a crisis, this man will create one.

But back to the subject, I sometimes remember the 1950's favorably, although in my life that wasn't a happy time. And when I think about it, I realize that there were a lot of things about that time period that needed fixing.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. I think I was.

For some time I thought I was an alcoholic, but after years in the program and things not getting any better I re-thought that. Now I drink a couple beers a week, a glass of wine now and then. Live like a monk, hardly set foot out the door.

It may be boring, but the alternative of the chaos I used to live is a little daunting.

[EFerrari]

9. Maybe because what we call "love" or "affection" is part idealization.

Our kids are the best kids, our partners are "the perfect match", and our fond memories are of "the good old days".

[asteroid2003QQ47]

11. Sort the "people."

You think the Bush family and their kind haven't experienced a perpetually rosy past?
The rest of us can, whatever are trials and tribulations have been, can remember back
when there was a semblence of community now long gone.

[ColbertWatcher]

12. In what respect, Charlie? n/t

[Odin2005]

13. People idealize their childhood. n/t.

[EFerrari]

14. We seem to idealize everything we bond to, including our past. n/t

[skypilot]

15. I think it's partly because...

...we survived it. The future and even the present are always uncertain but when you have lived to a point where you can look back on your past, then that past is something that is certain to an extent. The past is gone but at least it got us to this point in time, a time which is much scarier because anything could happen. But whatever happened in the past has already happened and can no longer harm us. Am I making sense?

[raccoon]

17. Yes, you are. For instance in the 1950's and 1960's we were afraid of a nuclear holocaust.

No, we didn't worry about it 24/7, but it was always in the back of our minds. Of my mind, anyway.

Now we know that a nuclear holocaust didn't happen then, it's easy to remember the pleasant things about the time and forget that the threat of nuclear war was there too.

[io-solip]

16. Cataracts.

:shrug:
:D

[pokerfan]

18. Cognitive bias

Some biases reflect a subject's motivation, for example the desire for a positive self-image leading to Egocentric bias and the avoidance of unpleasant cognitive dissonance. Other biases are due to the particular way the brain perceives, forms memories and makes judgments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias