Did People Used To Look Older?

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Retrospective Aging: Real or Illusion?

The video explores the popular perception that people used to look older at younger ages, a phenomenon termed "retrospective aging." This observation is fueled by anecdotal evidence from old yearbooks, family photos, and subcultures like football fan communities, where individuals in their early twenties often appear more mature than their modern counterparts.

Factors Contributing to Perceived Retrospective Aging

1. Biological and Lifestyle Changes:

• Slower Aging Process: Researchers from Yale and USC have found that humans today are aging more slowly than in the past. This is attributed to significant changes in lifestyle, nutrition, smoking habits, healthcare, early life conditions, and skincare (particularly sunscreen use).
• Quantifiable Age Shifts: Studies comparing metabolic, cardiovascular, inflammatory, kidney, liver, and lung function across time suggest that between the early 1990s and late 2000s, chronological ages have shifted. For instance, 60 became the new 56, 40 became the new 37, and 20 became the new 19.
• Dental and Orthodontic Advancements: In some parts of the world, improvements in dentistry and orthodontics have cosmetically altered facial structures, contributing to a perceived difference in aging.

2. Perceptual and Psychological Factors:

• Perspective and Memory: Our perception of how old someone appeared can be influenced by our own age and perspective at the time of observation. For example, seniors in high school might seem much older to a freshman than they do to themselves when they reach senior year. This is partly due to memory recall and the subjective experience of time.
• Superficial Styles and Mannerisms: Changes in fashion, hairstyles, makeup, accessories, language, and body language play a significant role. What was considered fashionable or normal in one era can appear dated or "older" in another.
  • Example: Modernizing hairstyles and makeup on older actresses from shows like "The Golden Girls" can significantly reduce their apparent age, suggesting that superficial elements heavily influence our perception of age.
• The "Stream" of Self-Expression: Individuals tend to adopt styles and mannerisms from a particular point in time. As they age, these styles, which were once contemporary, become associated with older generations, creating an anachronistic perception. The "stream" of evolving trends continues, while individuals may hold onto styles from their past.
• Association of Styles with Age: A style or behavior that was once associated with youth can become associated with old age simply because the people who adopted it when they were young eventually grew old. This is exemplified by Dale Herby, a gym teacher who repeatedly wore the same outfit for his yearbook photos, illustrating how a style can become linked to aging individuals.

3. The "Time-Traveling Hipster" Phenomenon:

• Anomalous Attire: The case of a man in a 1941 photograph who appeared to be wearing modern, casual attire (including a t-shirt with a logo) sparked speculation of time travel.
• Rational Explanation: Researchers concluded that his attire was likely not anachronistic but rather consistent with the casual styles of the time, and the logo was from a local hockey team. However, this raises the possibility that individuals today might unknowingly be dressed in styles that will appear futuristic in the future.

The Face-Name Matching Effect

This section delves into the intriguing connection between names and facial appearance.

• Prototypical Faces for Names: Research from Milsap's College and Miami University suggests that people associate certain facial features with specific names. Participants could create and rate faces that were perceived as prototypical for names like Mark, Josh, Bill, etc.
• Bouba/Kiki Effect Analogy: This phenomenon is compared to the Bouba/Kiki effect, where people consistently associate rounded shapes with the name "Bouba" and spiky shapes with "Kiki," demonstrating a cross-modal association.
• Face-Name Matching Effect: Studies show that people can often guess a stranger's name based on their face with a higher accuracy than chance. For example, in one study, participants correctly identified a man's name as "Dan" nearly 40% of the time, significantly above the 25% expected by random chance.
• The "Dorian Gray Effect" (Reverse): While Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray's portrait aged to reflect his sins while he remained young, the face-name matching effect is described as a "reverse Dorian Gray effect." Here, an inanimate sign (a name) influences physical appearance.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The expectations associated with a name can lead individuals to unconsciously adopt behaviors and even modify their appearance to align with those expectations. This can influence how others perceive them and how they present themselves.
  • Evidence: Multi-racial faces given European names are perceived as more European. Senatorial candidates with names that "fit" their faces well earn approximately 10% more votes.
• Parental Influence and Name Choice: Parents may unconsciously choose names that match their child's facial features, which are likely to resemble their own.
• Name Adjustment: Individuals can also adjust their names (e.g., choosing a nickname) to better fit their perceived identity, further strengthening the face-name matching effect.
• Heat Maps of Facial Features: Researchers have created "heat maps" indicating which facial features are most characteristically associated with certain names (e.g., the tip of the nose for "Ann," the bridge of the nose for "Arthur").

Perceptions of Old Age and Desired Age

• Defining Old Age: The average age people consider "old age" to begin is 73.7 years. However, this varies:
  • People under 65: average 71
  • People over 65: average 77
  • Women: perceive old age starting 3 years later than men.
  • White people: perceive old age starting 8 years later than non-whites.
  • Healthy individuals: place old age later than less healthy individuals.
• Desired Age: The age people wish they were varies with their current age.
  • Americans aged 21 are the only group who are the age they wish to be.
  • Younger individuals wish to be older.
  • Older individuals wish to be younger (e.g., 40-year-olds wish they were 30, 60-year-olds wish they were 40, 90-year-olds wish they were 60).
• Ideal Age to be Forever: The average American picks 36 as the age they would like to be forever.

The Dream Black and White Phenomenon

• Historical Shift in Dream Reports: Older people are more likely to report dreaming in black and white. This is not due to a biological aging process but rather their experience of the "great black and white dream epidemic of the 20th century."
• Influence of Media: Prior to the 1900s, dream reports consistently mentioned color. As black and white movies and television became popular in the 20th century, reports of black and white dreams increased. With the rise of color media in the 1960s, colored dream reports began to rise again.
• Correlation with Media Exposure: Studies show a strong correlation between the frequency of black and white dreams and the prevalence of black and white television in a person's area.
• Interpretation: It's debated whether dreams themselves changed or if people's perception and recall of dreams were influenced by media.
  • Confabulation: Dreams might be indeterminate in color during the experience, with color details being confabulated during recall, influenced by media.
  • Comparison to Reading: Similar to how a novel can be imagined in color or black and white, dreams might be subject to subjective interpretation.
• Future Dreams: It's speculated that future generations, exposed to more immersive sensory VR, might report dreams with richer textures and odors, finding our current dream experiences limited.
• Motion Pictures as a Proxy for Dreaming: The similarity between motion pictures and dreams (movement, narrative, cause-and-effect, but not made of "real" substance) might explain why we conceptualize dreams in a cinematic way.

Key Concepts

• Retrospective Aging: The perception that people in the past looked older at younger ages than people do today.
• Anachronism: Something belonging to a period other than that in which it exists.
• Face-Name Matching Effect: The phenomenon where people can often guess a stranger's name based on their facial appearance, and names can influence facial perception and even appearance.
• Dorian Gray Effect (Reverse): The idea that an inanimate sign (a name) can influence a person's physical appearance.
• Confabulation: The creation of false memories or the distortion of existing memories, often to fill gaps in recall.