Friday, February 24, 2006
The Age of Nostalgia (why we like what we like)
Most people form their basic musical tastes by the age of 20. If a new kind of music is introduced after age 35, there’s a '95 percent chance you will never choose to listen to it, according to Stanford neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky.
Thus, many of your preferences are predictable, based simply on your age.
That’s because your nostalgia imprinting is established at an early age and rarely changes over time. From their research, Morris Holbrook of Columbia and Rutgers professor Robert Schindler say there seems to be a critical period for preference-formation, during which people "imprint" on popular products.
But mere exposure isn't enough to spur nostalgic bonding, according to Schindler. "It has to do with depth of emotional experience. When something is powerful to you, it creates an enduring bond in your psyche."
Read it at http://cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041118-000001.html, a rebuttal, of sorts at
http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110007001 and the discomforting realization that, because of one’s age, one may know the ‘wrong” trivia http://www.bottledair.org/archives/000783.html.
Thus, many of your preferences are predictable, based simply on your age.
That’s because your nostalgia imprinting is established at an early age and rarely changes over time. From their research, Morris Holbrook of Columbia and Rutgers professor Robert Schindler say there seems to be a critical period for preference-formation, during which people "imprint" on popular products.
But mere exposure isn't enough to spur nostalgic bonding, according to Schindler. "It has to do with depth of emotional experience. When something is powerful to you, it creates an enduring bond in your psyche."
Read it at http://cms.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20041118-000001.html, a rebuttal, of sorts at
http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110007001 and the discomforting realization that, because of one’s age, one may know the ‘wrong” trivia http://www.bottledair.org/archives/000783.html.
