One factor in declinism is the so-called “reminiscence bump,” meaning that older people tend “to best remember events that happened to them at around the ages of 10-30.”[1] As one source puts it, “[t]he vibrancy of youth, and the thrill of experiencing things for the first time, creates a 'memory bump' compared with which later life does seem a bit drab.”[3] Gopnick suggests that “the idea of our decline is emotionally magnetic, because life is a long slide down, and the plateau just passed is easier to love than the one coming up.” Citing the widespread love of “old songs,” he writes: “The long look back is part of the long ride home. We all believe in yesterday.”[4]