Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – In general, the faces of teenagers in the past tended to look older. If you watch films or view photos and videos with an ‘old school’ background, you can see different conditions between the past and the present.
For example, when searching for photos of middle school children decades ago on the Google search engine. Just try typing ‘old school snacks.
There was a group of children wearing new white uniforms typical of junior high school students aged 12-15 years. They took photos with faces with mustaches, thick, slightly long hair, quite large bodies and wearing tight blue pants.
So, what are the reasons that made teenagers in the past look older than teenagers their age today?
First, there is selection bias. When compared with today, middle school students generally appear without mustaches and beards, and their hair should not be long. Moreover, this appearance is often accompanied by a glowing face thanks to skincare, cool hair and modern clothing styles.
This difference is what makes us think that ancient photos contain old people. However, this difference can actually be answered with a simple argument. That, we should not look at the past from the perspective of the present, which according to Michael Stevens from Vsauce is called selection bias.
Take another example of the fashion style for middle school children in the 1970s. They have longish hair, with bangs and thick mustaches. Perhaps, this happened because their lifestyle was influenced by things that went viral at the time they lived.
Such as following Elvis Presley’s hairstyle or following Rhoma Irama’s dressing style, both of which went viral in the 1970s to 1980s. So, it was natural for them to follow the flow of the crowd at that time.
This kind of phenomenon also occurs nowadays when many people follow trends spread by influencers on social media. Of course, if we move forward 1-5 years from the time the trend appeared, we would think such behavior was outdated, old-fashioned, and strange.
Second, biological factors. This factor was revealed in 2018 by a joint research team from the Yale School of Medicine and the University of South Carolina with research entitled “Is 60 the New 50? Examining Changes in Biological Age Over the Past Two Decades.”
Based on the results of this research, there are indeed differences between the physical appearance of people who lived between 1988-2010. Those who have lived in the last 20 years are noted to look younger than their predecessors. The reason is because of lifestyle.
Different from the past, now people live in a time of rapid health technology which raises awareness about the importance of health. For example, in the presence of health services, the dangers of smoking make people reduce their consumption of cigarettes, resulting in a more youthful physical appearance. Then, the presence of health technology in the form of various kinds of skincare has also made people compete to stay young. Of course, all these efforts if successful will clearly have an impact on a more youthful appearance.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
(fab/fab)