Shifting Baselines Edit Meaning

1.

Shifting baselines are the chronic, slow, hard-to-notice changes in things, from the disappearance of birds and frogs in the countryside to the increased drive time from New York to Philadelphia.

If your ideal weight used to be 180 pounds and now it's 195, your baseline -- as well as your waistline -- has shifted. That's an example of shifting baselines.

See baseline, shifted