Can entire societies become more or less depressed over time?
Using books frm 125 years in English, Spanish & German, researchers find that after a decline/stabilization in "cognitive distortions" during 20thC, *pessimism* has made a comeback since 2001. pnas.org/content/118/30
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My sense is cultures have first order concerns that animates majority of their works. Be it Wordworth-Shelley in winter-hunger of 1815s or Beats in 1950s against conservativism etc. Perhaps 9/11, wars, 2008, tech disruption, inequality is our draw when the dice of history rolled.
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