35 Great Things That Have Aged Like Milk

According to redditor Open-Outcome-660, the reason why the question resonated with so many people was that it's a spin on an age-old statement. "I really didn’t expect my question to gain as much traction as it did, but, in retrospect, the reason for it is that it’s the age-old statement of 'things were better in the past' turned into a question," they told Bored Panda.

I wanted to find out more about the inspiration behind the question and the redditor was more than happy to talk about it. "The question started when I was browsing through YouTube one morning and got frustrated by how polluted the platform has become of ads," they mentioned something that many of us can relate to. "Most videos had multiple commercials. Most commercials were 20 seconds long. Even 5-second videos had at least 5 seconds of commercials before I could watch them. Naturally, my first thought was that this platform had gone from great to worse. My second thought was what went up on Reddit: 'Is there anything else that’s had this trajectory?'"

In Open-Outcome-660's opinion, nostalgia definitely plays a role in how we perceive how things were in the past. "If I could go back in time momentarily to compare things, I’m pretty sure I’d like many of today’s things more. I’d probably also discover things I really don’t like about the old experience. It’s probably easy to look back with nostalgia goggles since we probably have a very selective memory when we make comparisons," they shared. However, that's doesn't mean that some things weren't objectively better in the past.

"Nevertheless, I definitely think that there are truths in people’s thoughts of some things being better back in time. In my case, I definitely think that YouTube has become a worse experience in terms of its ads. In other cases, people might experience that their society has become worse in some aspects, and that may very well be true. It’s not the whole truth, but the factors may be sufficiently big to put on those nostalgia goggles and determine that the whole thing is worse now," the redditor mused.

While it can be a lot of fun to whine about how bad things have gotten, from time to time, it's best not to forget that there are plenty of positives in life, too. I wanted to get Open-Outcome-660's opinion about what things have gone from bad to great.

"There’s a whole lot of things that have turned from really bad to great. One example is acquiring knowledge, where just a few decades ago, everything would have to be gained either through books or lectures; whereas now it’s at your fingertips. Another example is ease of living: fixing things such as buying things online, signing contracts, picking a movie to watch, or listening to music has become a lot easier, safer, and more accessible compared to a couple of decades ago. A third example would be ease of travel, where nowadays it’s quite easy to get by with English around the globe, flights are cheaper and things are waaay easier to book, find reviews on and look up at a moment’s notice if needed," the redditor shared what things have definitely improved with time.

"Thinking from this other perspective also made me realize that we often compare things in the past with the time they were in. It’s a bit hard for me to say that the internet was really bad a couple of decades ago because that was a part that society and those technological times. If we somehow got to swap the internet experience today with 20 years ago, I think it’s pretty safe to say that the experience would have been perceived as going from great to really bad."

There’s no shame about being nostalgic for the good old days. Most of us are guilty of it. (Some, like me, are a tad guiltier than others, but hey, I loved the ‘90s and early 2000s.) In fact, nostalgia can be incredibly comforting. However, there does come a point when reminiscing about the past can become problematic.

Child and adolescent therapist and member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, Kemi Omijeh, explained to me during an earlier interview that many psychologists believe that our childhoods are the foundation to who we are as adults.

“It explains why we frequently revisit our childhood as it influences our present," she told Bored Panda.

Therapist Kemi revealed that we’re nostalgic about our childhood if our experiences have been full of being loved and nurtured. On the flip side, it’s hard to feel nostalgic for a time in your life where you felt anxious, unloved, uncared for.

“If we’ve had a difficult childhood, it can be hard to feel nostalgic, instead it will feel like something we need to get over in order to move on," she said.

"Nostalgia can also be a good coping strategy for times of low mood and challenges," Kemi told Bored Panda, adding that this is only true up to a certain point. Once nostalgia starts interfering with our everyday lives and our ability to be present in the moment, it’s time to scale back.

"If we end up comparing it to our experiences today and feeling like nothing is as good as it was, then this will inevitably affect our mood and our ability to do what we need to do. We can become stuck in our nostalgia; in which case it might be best to seek help from a counseling professional to help you process your past in order to enjoy your present,” she said.

Something to keep in mind is that we see our past memories through a filter when we relive them, so all the tiny details might not be as accurate as we think. That doesn’t necessarily mean that MTV wasn’t amazing years and years ago, however, it might mean that things weren’t as overwhelmingly fantastic as we remember them.