So, it's 2014, "Shake It Off" is on every iPod around the world, and Travis Kelce has yet to catch his first touchdown in the Chiefs jersey. Barack Obama is in the White House, LeBron James has not yet returned to Cleveland, and Tom Brady has only three championship rings. The US box office is dominated by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen, with Pharrell Williams occupying both the top of the charts and the Grammy stage.

Instagram has just moved from the “cool service for photographers” category to the “Wow, I can take a shot of my food and share it with my buds!” category, and the hipster subculture is at the peak of its popularity. The PlayStation 4 has just been released, and the most coveted smartphone on the planet is the iPhone 6. What can I say - a screen diagonal of 5.5 inches is considered simply indecently large! Yes, as good old Frank Sinatra once sang, “it was a very good year!”

On the other hand, were things really so much better in 2014 that it looks like a genuine “Golden Age” compared to our time? Yes, there was no such political tension in the whole world, the economy was really way healthier than today, and the houses were really affordable for many of us. And there was no TikTok. Is this enough to make you nostalgic for the times of ten years ago?

"In fact, every historical era, no matter how bad it may seem to the people living in it, also has its merits. And it’s human nature to be nostalgic for the 'good old days,'" says Valery Bolgan, a historian and editor-in-chief of the Intent news agency from Ukraine, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. “Our memory often retains only good things about past days, and the further they are from the present, the more they resemble a 'golden age'.”

“Those of us who lived through the 1980s, for example, often look back on them as a genuine era of prosperity, when in fact there were plenty of bad moments as well. Likewise, the middle of the last decade is just another year. With its advantages and disadvantages," Valery summarizes.

“We're nostalgic not because the past was better than now, but because memory gives us mostly good memories. And also because, for example, ten years ago, many of us were younger, more beautiful, stronger, and had better health. And we, accordingly, transfer our own perception of the era onto the era itself," Valery Bolgan says.

“However, in the first half of the '10s there were a lot of really interesting things and phenomena that deserve some nostalgia. On the other hand, the very mechanism of our perception of information has changed significantly over these ten years. Just try watching some viral videos on YouTube from 2014. I'll bet a lot of you will find them damn long and boring," Valery states. "So every year is truly wonderful in its own right."

Either way, 2014 was a cool year. At least for me - because I became a dad for the first time that year. I think you all also have at least one reason to be nostalgic, so please get comfortable, turn on Pharrell Williams, Imagine Dragons or Iggy Azalea - and go ahead, scroll this list to the very end! And never miss a chance to share your own thoughts on the topic in the comments below!