“The old people said that in their time the world was better and people wiser.”Ion Creangă · Amintiri din copilărie · 1881 · partea I
Every generation idealizes the past, believing the world was better and people wiser.
Creangă recounts an old saying, but his ironic tone suggests this nostalgia is an illusion. People tend to forget past hardships and believe 'in their time' everything was purer. For example, parents often say 'in my day children were more obedient,' ignoring that they were the same. It is a universal mechanism to make sense of the present.
Why it matters This idea helps you view nostalgia critically and not idealize the past, but appreciate what you have in the present.