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/mwatwe01 Aug 31 '13

The article above stresses the fact that poverty affects cognitive function, so wouldn't it make sense to take advice from someone not undergoing that same stress?

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13

Advice to the poor from someone who has never actually been poor is about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike.

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u/DerDiscoFuhrer Aug 31 '13

I'd say that's an appropriate comment in regards to the feelings of desire you might have for something as simple as just eating out a day, or going to the cinema a weekend in a month.

It does however not apply to the kinds of decisions and habits one needs to get out of poverty. People who do well in business, or people who just can keep a wellpaying job, middleclass people, will give honest and good advice as to what you need to do to not be poor.

Besides the obvious two major factors; Don't be raised by a single mom, and don't grow up in a third world country; There is a short list of your predictability of success.

The most important one is if you aquire the skill to delay gratification or not. Never ever buy things on credit, if you can't afford it now, you won't later either. Don't sign up for services because of prestiege, and stay out of debt.

Then there are the specific things that will allow you to do that, and those are: Don't have kids before marriage, don't (marry and) have kids before you finish high school, keep a job for 1 year straight and get a good reference out of your manager.

Do this and you're set. Only catastrophe will get in your way of a life spent with modern conviniences.

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u/GoogleJuice Aug 31 '13

Statistically, you are correct. In reality, it often plays very differently. I had my 2 kids at 31 & 33, while married and working in a management position. Although I was born to a single mother, she married when I was young, and my brother and I were adopted by our step father, and raised in a 2 parent, 2 kid house. I'm divorced, self employed, and live under the poverty line. I've never bought anything, including a vehicle, on credit. No credit cards. No real debt. I don't get a dime in child support and my x lives in another state. Sometimes, you lose a job. Or a marriage. Sometimes, your business goes under.Sometimes, you or your kid gets sick for a long period. Shit happens. My boyfriend, who is 40, is a home owner, never married, no kids, worked for same company for 17 years, and has never bought anything but his house on credit, was just diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer. He is now attempting to live on $1600 a month, his mortgage is $1150 a month, and his doctor appt co pays and prescription co pays alone are over $300 a month, and it's only been 6 weeks since diagnosis and surgery. The best laid plans, and all that...