Revealed: The 'end of history' illusion which explains why we can't imagine getting old
- The phenomenon means people always think they are the finished article
- End of history illusion prevents people from seeing themselves differently in the future
- Researchers at Harvard University quizzed 19,000 people on ageing
The 'End of History Illusion' means people believe they are the finished article - explaining why teenagers don't regret tattoos or other things that may affect their appearance in the future
If becoming old is something that you can't get your head around, there could be a good reason why.
Researchers have discovered a phenomenon called ‘the end of history illusion’ in which we mistakenly think we are always the finished article.
A survey of 19,000 people found that when we look back in hindsight it easy to see how much we have changed.
But we look into the future, however, we are rarely able to see how different we are going to be.
The finding helps to explain why a teenager who gets a tattoo never thinks they will regret it, even if they do so later.
Similarly, when we get older the prospect of grey hair is not something we can begin to imagine.
The researchers asked the 19,000 respondents 18 to 68 to take a survey and asked about their values, personalities and things they liked to do.
Some were asked to reflect back over the last 10 years whilst others were asked to predict how they would change in the coming decade.
The American team found that across all age ranges, everyone underestimated how much they would be different in the future.
When it came to music for example, most people expected artists like Coldplay or Rhianna to play on into their old age - even though they will by then long have stopped making music.
Lead researcher Daniel Gilbert, a psychologist at Harvard University, said that the findings showed that a 40-year-old looking back would remember more looking back than a 30-year-old would looking forward.
He said: ‘What we never seem to realize is that our future selves will look back and think the very same thing about us.
Phenomenon: Many of the 19,000 people questioned by researchers at Harvard University couldn't imagine their appearance changing or getting grey hair as they got older (stock image)
‘At every age we think we’re having the last laugh, and at every age we’re wrong.
‘Life is a process of growing and changing, and what our results suggest is that growth and change really never stops, despite the fact that at every age from 18 to 68, we think it's pretty much come to a close.’
Jordi Quoidbach of Harvard University, another one of the researchers, added: ‘Believing that we just reached the peak of our personal evolution makes us feel good.
‘The ‘I wish that I knew then what I know now’ experience might give us a sense of satisfaction and meaning, whereas realising how transient our preferences and values are might lead us to doubt every decision and generate anxiety.’