Comments on: Change in Self - Change in World

By: Erika Price

Erika Price — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 15:17:25 +0000

You’ve got it right about “old people”, Erich. Older people generally have less neuroticism, have higher self-esteem, and much more mental independence than their younger counterparts. They don’t cave under social factors that typically cause conformity (old folks don’t go along with the Milgram experiment, for instance), and they generally report more satisfaction with life than ever they have at another juncture. Perhaps we have some kind of biological foundation to quell our fear of death by making us more easygoing advanced adults? Or maybe experience does just breed the “wisdom” we so often hear that the aged have. Whatever the reason, it makes the old age that society tells us to fear far less ominous.

By: Erich Vieth

Erich Vieth — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:47:06 +0000

I’m one of those parents who sees the world as more dangerous since I became a parent. I would put much of that fear on the current Administration due to it’s reckless approach to world politics and its willingness to hand environmental and energy decision-making to polluters and energy producers. But you’re right, that I trace much of my concern to the effects of these reckless moves on my children. After all, I’ll certainly be gone in 60 years (maybe a lot sooner), but my children will have to deal with this mess.

I also think you’re right about assuming that we saw the world through our present lens of attitudes. As much as I’d like to believe otherwise, back in grade school I was a little neo-con. The first president I voted for was Reagan. But then things don’t always run along the predicted trajectory, do they? This blog is pretty good evidence that I took a left turn, and I can’t really put a finger on where or how that happened.

I do need to mention that many studies of older folks indicate that they are actually happier as old people than they were when younger. This result is interesting and, yes, somewhat nuanced. Here’s where I got my info: “Causes and Correlates of Happiness,” in Well-Being, by Michael Argyle, found it The Foundations of hedonic Psychology, by Daniel Kahneman, Ed Diener and Norbert Schwarz, ed. Argyle writes: “Many surveys of happiness or satisfaction have found a small increase in happiness with age, with a correlation of about .10.” Here’s another quote: “In several studies it has been found that while men become happier with age, women become less happy. He also cites to studies that find that “religion is important to the happiness of the elderly.”

Your post is full of good ideas and observations. Thanks.

By: Mary

Mary — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:48:53 +0000

The sure cure for seeing the past with rose-colored glasses is to study history, especially the newspapers of the past. When you see that the tragedies of the past are really not much different from the tragedies of today, you’re much less likely to long for those “good old days.”

By: Dan Klarmann

Dan Klarmann — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:48:37 +0000

Historically, memory was considered a true reflection of experience. In the last few decades, research has shown that memory is actually very malleable and suggestible.
Look at the basis of trial law (or History, or the Bible): Testimony.
Testimony is someone attempting to persuade an audience that they honestly and accurately recall the experience of some event.

They could be misrepresenting their own recall, lying for some gain.

They might misremember though any number of many well-documented processes, not of their intent.

They might not have accurately perceived the event in the first place, either because of poor observation or by being mislead by the event itself.

All of these also factor in to how people perceive and report their own personal past.