Declinism
We perceive the past as better than it was and the future as worse than it will be.
Declinism is the predisposition to view the past favorably and the future negatively, leading to the perception that a culture, society, or institution is in decline. Each generation tends to view its childhood era as a golden age and the present as degraded. This bias is reinforced by negativity bias and nostalgic rose-tinted memory. It distorts political discourse by supporting 'restore the past' narratives.
What it looks like in the wild.
- Politics Good Old Days A poll finds that most people in developed nations believe children today will be worse off than their parents, despite objective data showing improvements in health, education, and living standards.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
An employee declines a promotion, thinking, 'The company was more generous with bonuses in the past. The new CEO is just cutting costs, so the future looks grim.'
Sofia decides not to renew her magazine subscription, thinking, 'The writing used to be so thoughtful. Now it's shallow, and it will only get worse to sell copies.'
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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