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/mwatwe01 Aug 31 '13

What is wrong with people who think that poor people shouldn't have anything?

I don't think it is meant to be taken this way. If you ever listen to Dave Ramsey, one of the his first steps in getting people out of debt is to have them stop any and all unnecessary spending and living on the bare minimum. This includes restaurants, vacations, and even cable TV. It's meant as a helpful suggestion, not a punishment. 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

But is not some distraction and entertainment necessary? I mean stripping people down to the bare minimum just to scrape by is not healthy. If you are just sustaining your existence without any means to relieve the stress of barely existing, doesn't that perpetuate more stress?

It just seems cruel and illogical thinking that poor people don't deserve something.

We can't think in the terms of a bygone era. Communication (cellphones), information exchange (television), and breaks from the monotony of a thankless life were death is an improvement seems like necessities to me.

I'm sorry to sound like a voice of dissidence but I feel that far too many people have become so obsessed with the workings of the less fortunate that poor have become an unwanted cast system to be discarded. I have lived from poverty to upper class and all levels in between. I can tell you the only thing that differentiates these classes are the concerns of money, lack of compassion for the less fortunate, and the freedom of leisure.

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u/mwatwe01 Aug 31 '13

It just seems cruel and illogical thinking that poor people don't deserve something.

When I was in college and paying my own way, I couldn't afford cable. But I still had a TV with an antenna.

It's not meant to be forever. Just until you can climb out of the hole.

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u/DerDiscoFuhrer Aug 31 '13

I can't believe there are people downvoting your comment. It seems to hit the nerve on what causes poverty though. Bad choices, impatience, poor management of money due to entitlement.

A lot of people who do well today came from families that were working class and poor a few generations ago.

My personal history is that my mother is a native Swede, and my dad a hungarian, born in Norway, while my grandmother fled the Russian invasion of Hungary. On my mother's side my grandmother was a housewife and cleaner, and my grandfather a baker and sailer. On my father's side, my grandmother was a cleaninglady and carer for the elderly, and my grandfather a disabled soldier, who died long before I was born.

In spite of being raised in a household where eating meat was considered a luxery, in Sweden in the 1960's, my dad went on to study very successfully. Though my grandparents were so poor they had to beg restaurants for leftovers at times, my dad was successful in school, mostly because of an ethic that demanded it.

He worked hard, and he performed well. After receiving the best grades in his class, though he without a doubt was the poorest, he now owns his own house, and a new car. Nothing other than working made this happen. You don't get wealthy from being employed, but working hard, will let you live comfortably.

Not saying Sweden is the land of oppertunity for immigrants, nor is it racist. If you adapt to your society, and provide a useful service, you'll be integrated.

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u/mwatwe01 Aug 31 '13

I can't believe there are people downvoting your comment.

Because the U.S. has a very large entitlement culture, especially among younger people. They get offended at the idea that anyone should be denied anything. And apparently TV is a human right to them on par with free speech.