The End Of History And You

January 7, 2013 in Daily Bulletin

Psychologists have discovered a new effect that they’ve termed ‘the end of history illusion’ reports John Tierney:

  • A study found that while individuals are usually cognoscente of how much they’ve changed from their younger days, they underestimate how much they’ll change in future years – (incorrectly) believing that things won’t change much.
  • This effect was observed in all age groups, from teenagers to the elderly.
  • This might be because “believing that we just reached the peak of our personal evolution feels good”.
  • It has some negative effects – believing that our tastes and preferences will remain static might lead us to make regrettable decisions about things such as what we ink on our body or who we marry.

Read more about the effect, the details of the study, and what experts have to say over here.

Source: The New York Times

Via: Marginal Revolution