Was 2016 the worst year ever? | The Tylt

It's not just in your head. 2016 saw a spike in celebrity deaths, and they skewed younger than normal. It's worth noting that this year was front-loaded and the last six months were in line with normal statistics. But add the amplification effect of social media, and it feels like everyone we know and love is dying. Let's just hope it's an anomaly.

We should probably put 2016 within historical context. We've had a lot of bad years. What about World War II or the year "Howard The Duck" was released?

2016 was the worst. Let's remove the whole celebrity death thing. We're talking massive political upheaval on a scale no one has seen in a lifetime. The total rejection of globalism. The collapse of the status quo. Countries are retreating inward, projecting "us versus them" and electing populists with authoritarian streaks.

We had Aleppo and Nice and the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Tragedy at every turn, with folks powerless to stop it. The house was burning down and we just sipped coffee. 🔥 ☕ 🔥

Ever year is the worst year ever. Humans rarely learn from history. We repeat mistakes. Tragedy is cyclical.

The grim reality is that many of the radical political changes the Western world voted for in 2016—like Trump, Brexit, etc.—won't take effect until 2017 and beyond. So if you thought 2016 was bad, hold on to your butts.

It’s in the nature of years to feel exhausting in retrospect. The world is punishing; we have short collective memories and a cognitive bias that makes us recall bad events more vividly than good ones. The awful folkways of social media—which encourage us to call out bad things in dramatic fashion and then pretend that we’ve been helpful—have led to something of an annual conclusion. Google searches for “worst year ever” spike each December. Every year is the worst year ever, we’ve started to say.

Many, many people are convinced that 2016 is the worst year ever.

Hey, 2016... 2017 would like a word with you.

Other people think calling 2016 the worst year ever is a bit naïve.