PLGRM

I like to think I’m a mature enough human who can admit when he might be wrong.

I tend to think people are currently being “meaner” than in year’s past. Turns out, I’m just seeing things.

Pretty much every generation seems to believe that morality is declining. In ancient Judaism, the rabbis had a saying: “The earlier generations are to the current generation as men are to donkeys.” The Victorians imagined that people living before the Industrial Revolution were more respectful, civil, and honest. After World War I, Europeans looked back to the Victorians as paragons of moral superiority.

And in this century, surveys have shown that people in at least 60 countries around the globe believe that morality is declining.

But that idea is just an illusion, according to a new paper published in Nature.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23762261/moral-decline-philosophy-ethics-religion-spirituality

I read the paper, and it’s compelling.

It seems you and I have fallen prey to “biased exposure and memory” (BEAM). BEAM is the tendency to selectively recall memories that are congruent with a current emotional state. I feel like people are being meaner* so I’m biased as I recall instances of people being meaner. I see systemic injustice going unchecked so I apply that bias to all peopel all the time.

This truly is a case of “you get more of what you focus on.” I need to do some thinking on how this intersects with real harm being done to certain groups of people. How do you see it?

*BTW, I like using “meaner” rather than “more mean.” I know it makes me sound like a six-year-old. I don’t care. 🙂