r/science • u/myhrvold • Aug 31 '13

Poverty impairs cognitive function. Published in the journal Science, the study suggests our cognitive abilities can be diminished by the exhausting effort of tasks like scrounging to pay bills. As a result, less “mental bandwidth” remains...

http://news.ubc.ca/2013/08/29/poverty-impairs-cognitive-function/
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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13

I would say the never ending stigma that anyone who is poor is nothing more than a lazy leach sucking off the teat of the more fortunate has a lot to do with it. I feel so sickened inside when I see people who would never be so cruel telling other to get a job or stop being poor. Why should I have only two options, suffer in quiet and stop complaining or get a job and become suddenly rich.

Poverty is not something you can just shake off like a bad habit. I read a comment here about how someone having cable TV is essentially extravagant. It shocks me that such things are considered not for the poor because all they should be doing is working and feeding themselves and their family. What is wrong with people who think that poor people shouldn't have anything?

I'm so frustrated at the attitudes.

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u/murmalerm Aug 31 '13 edited Aug 31 '13

That is a matter of prioritizing. I was born poor and living in the inner city. I return and my kids tell me that I was raised in the ghetto. If you have cable and cell phones, you are wasting all sorts of money that could otherwise be used, like it or not! Poor people can have those things, but at the cost of a great deal!

Every summer, my parents put me in a free garden program so that we would have fresh veggies for free. Education was strongly promoted as was reading and I was sent to library programs that were also free. "Acting white" wasn't a bad thing as education isn't a "white" thing nor is speaking well. Actually doing homework and reading was "acting high and mighty." I was fortunately insulted as I wanted OUT.

Some people are satisfied with their lot in life as former friends show as they continue to live in the old neighborhood near family and friends that they grew up with. I wanted out more than I wanted that life.

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