‘Everyone Used to be Nicer,’ And Other Persistent Myths
A new study explains why your sense that people have gotten worse is a psychological illusion.
July 27, 2023
28 min
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Episode 30 · July 27, 2023
‘Everyone Used to be Nicer,’ And Other Persistent Myths
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The Atlantic Episodes Around July 27, 2023
Episode 197 of 364 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
28:54This episode‘Everyone Used to be Nicer,’ And Other Persistent Myths
Summary
A lot of people are plagued by the feeling that society used to be better, that neighbors were more helpful, that strangers once talked to you. Some people channel that belief into political action, as in the Make America Great Again movement. A new study explains why the sense that people and the culture have gotten worse is a psychological illusion.
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This episode was produced by Becca Rashid. Editing by Jocelyn Frank. Fact checked by Isabel Cristo. Engineering is by Rob Smierciak. The executive producer of Audio is Claudine Ebeid. The managing editor of Audio is Andrea Valdez.
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