All media contains a mix of good things and bad things. The good things survive the test of time and, years on, are remembered and much loved; the bad things a

All media contains a mix of good things and bad things. The good things survive the test of time and, years on, are remembered and much loved; the bad things are quietly forgotten. So, when we look back at the past, it feels like the good we have now is much more dilute and harder to pick out than what we remember; but this impression is not an accurate reflection of reality. (The effect is even stronger with old foreign media, since only the better things crossed borders especially pre-internet but with each year we are exposed to more and more of the firehose).