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AllanfromWales1 t1_itulfaa wrote

Could it be that people's taste in music and films develops and becomes fixed at a relatively young age, and they find more recent stuff less appealing?

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giuliomagnifico OP t1_itumv38 wrote

Could be!

> As expected by the researchers, study one results showed older music produced more memory recall and the songs were more appreciated. Additionally, the memories associated with older music were also older, more positive and had more downward temporal comparisons — meaning participants felt that while the memories were positive, they also believed their lives were better now than at the time of the memory. Whether a memory was specific or more social did not vary widely, but several variables such as memory recall, memory immersion and positive effect were predictors of appreciation. That suggests people appreciate any type of entertainment that activates a memory, the researchers wrote.

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wweber1 t1_iturgj5 wrote

Hmm not sure about thinking life is better now than before.

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DillaVibes t1_itw725n wrote

Just my anecdote but I love new music/films as well as older ones. Old ones are great for nostalgia but I always need new sounds. But I do know some older people who are unwilling to listen and experiment with new sounds.

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resrep2 t1_itwqcq3 wrote

Anecdotal experience and all that but...my taste in music genres has changed significantly since I was a child but in the new genres I listen to I still find music from a few decades ago generally better than today's, even though I never listened to that music back in its time.

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MiddleCourage t1_ituo1sk wrote

I think difficulty and complacency are huge factors. Learning stuff is hard and taxing. Once you get comfortable most people don't LIKE being challenged and confronting new things.

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AllanfromWales1 t1_itv0iwf wrote

Is it true though, that modern film/music is more complex or difficult than earlier versions? That isn't obvious.

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MOS95B t1_itv7c51 wrote

It doesn't necessarily have to be "more complex or difficult". It just has to be different. You have to "learn to like" different (and a lot of people do), but the familiar is easy and often comforting.

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BlueRajasmyk2 t1_itx60q6 wrote

Could it also be selection bias? The older movies I remember are strong memories because, well, I still remember them. The less memorable ones I've just forgotten completely (often forgetting I even watched them to begin with)

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AllanfromWales1 t1_itx6s5a wrote

Certainly true with music. YouTube comments on old videos to the effect 'music was so much better in the 1980s' (or 70s or whenever) fail to take account of the swathes of unutterable trash there was in those days as much as now.

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grownan t1_itw56xn wrote

Idk I think rap is objectively worse than it was 10 years ago. The beats continually improve but the lyrics and flow are terrible now.

They weren’t exactly amazing back then either but between lil baby and the other autotune guys I can’t understand anything they say.

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skofan t1_ituy9rl wrote

Could it also be that maybe more modern music and film's have a higher tendency to not stand out in any memorable way?

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FingerTheCat t1_itwc3v5 wrote

I suggest that as a kid you have more curiosity and willingness to try new things. And as you get older listening to music is more of a meditation, I find myself changing the song if I never heard it before if because I don't want to use my brain power for learning, but relaxing. Might be a bit hyperbolic but yea

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Voltage_Z t1_itvtjwx wrote

Wouldn't this just be survivorship bias at work? Old music sounds better than newer stuff because people stop listening to 'bad' music, which causes anything that stays in the public consciousness to seem 'good.'

I'd think the same would happen with movies.

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Theweasels t1_itwo9dc wrote

Also, songs that have been around for decades have had more opportunities to be attached to memorable moments than new songs. It's like saying "people have more memories associated with lifelong friends than new friends". Of course they do, the new friends weren't there for the first half.

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stiveooo t1_itx97i9 wrote

True. We get born and only watch hear the best of the best in the last 30 years. To then do the same the next 20. Ofc the elite 30 will beat the new 20.

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Menckenlover t1_itvl463 wrote

I think the nostalgia part of the memories is that these things are new experiences at the time we experience them for the first time. Nostalgic is like the more powerful experience we had because it's the first time we really experience these new things. Over time, when we see or hear similar media, it's not that it isn't as important to us, but that we have already seen/heard similar things, so the impact is lessened. We value those original experiences more because of the power they had from being new and compare everything else to it, which fails in comparison because media changes and evolves over time.

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gokism t1_ituu391 wrote

It's the same as older people are great at being able to remember stuff when they were young, but not so good at remembering things more recent. It's the way the brain works.

Your brain has had many opportunities to reflect on the older material in the brain making it easier to access and easier to associate emotions to said material. In addition, it's been said that your brain associates accesses to the material from the last time your accessed it which reinforces the memory further. IOW every time your access material it date stamps when you did and the next time you access it it's from that last date stamp. Every one of the prior date stamps strengthens the memory.

Now, consider how much media involves so much of your brain and how much your brain is growing during your teens and early adulthood. So many access points that involve emotions, events, etc. That's a lot of bandwidth that'll pop up when you listen to or see something that triggers again and again.

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palox3 t1_itw7380 wrote

because nowadays is too much of everything

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xeidou t1_itwiso5 wrote

Somebody once told me..

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I_Want_In_Too t1_itwzhqf wrote

Our brains do not work like computer hard drives. They run off chemicals and electricity. We are organic.

Your memories are chemicals - so aren’t memories really how you remembered those chemicals feeling?

By thinking or seeing or smelling, you tell your brain to produce drugs that make you feel good.

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rackfocus t1_itxu929 wrote

It’s called nostalgia, I know it well.

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jpradolin t1_itxwafs wrote

I guess that's why the boomers love to reminisce their statuses back then

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TestFabulous8727 t1_ityvzcs wrote

Cream rises to the top

I’ve had this thought quite often that music, movies, films etc. Are all better from my youth but really, I think you just tend to forget all the sh”te. It’s just nostalgia like the member berries. Oooeee member

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