It has been said that nostalgia is “recalling the fun without remembering the pain.” The warm feelings we often have for times past partially stem from the misguided conviction that human misery is the special ingredient of our own time. We yearn for release. We hanker for “the good old days” — the good old days of the “Noble Savage” or “Merry Old England” or the “Gay Nineties.” We long for some Golden Age out of the past, but closer inspection of the “good old days” tends to lessen their glamour. We learn that the times of the “Noble Savage” were marked by frequent famines and high infant mortality. We learn that pestilence and petty tyranny were widespread in “Merry Old England.” Although we may stand awestruck before the wonder of the Great Pyramids or the immensity of the Great Wall of China, nevertheless we cannot help but remember the immense human misery entailed in their construction.
Commenting on the human tendency to romanticize…
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