An Evolutionary Theory of Nostalgia

How a boring plane ride led to a new way to think about nostalgia

Revisiting Old Worlds

A few days ago, I was on a flight without working WiFi. The flight was a little long, just over three hours, and I wasn’t tired enough to take a nap. I don’t really have any games on my phone or iPad, and haven’t for years.

However, I remembered that several years ago I had downloaded a GameBoy simulator to replay through the original Pokemon Red and Blue, games I spent hours (and hours) playing as a child.

The next three hours passed by in what seemed like a few minutes. I was once again lost in the same little simulated world of monsters in which I had spent so much of my childhood.

After I landed, I began thinking about why I felt such a strong pull toward those 1st generation Pokemon games. I had never really played beyond Generation 2, but Pokemon is apparently now up to 9 generations filled with over 1000 monsters. However, I had no interest in any of these newer generation games despite their far superior graphics and improved gameplay mechanics. On paper, they should have been the better experience, but for me, they didn’t hold a candle to the 2D world of Kanto.

I was filled with nostalgia as I driving home listening to a 90’s playlist and thinking about the original Pokemon games. This got me thinking about nostalgia. I don’t know how much the average person experiences nostalgia, but I experience it quite a bit. And when I do experience it, it’s like a black hole sucking all of my motivation toward whatever thing I am nostalgic for.

Such a common and powerful force for motivation is likely to have a function, similar to other powerful forces for motivation like shame, fear, and curiosity. But what could be the possible function of revisiting childhood experiences?

And then it hit me. I experienced one of those “aha!” moments, where it feels like two stubborn puzzle pieces snap together.