This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.
Definition
The way sentimental feelings for the past influence our current actions and consumer choices.
When it shows up
Major life transitions, career changes, relationship endings. Remembering past periods as better than they were at the time.
Failure mode
Memory edits the past to be more positive. Current difficulties feel worse by contrast to an idealized past that was never that good. Decisions based on 'returning to how things were' return to something that didn't exist.
Countermeasure
Check nostalgia against contemporaneous records: old journals, old emails, old conversations. The past was usually less great than memory claims. Distinguish missing the past from missing a constructed version.
Related concepts
Also connected in the mapDeclinism·The Fading Affect Bias·Reminiscence Bump·Rosy Retrospection
Origin
Also revealed
Entry #125 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon