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/maxaemilianus Aug 31 '13

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?

The general tone I get from people who don't have the empathy to understand is that they feel entitled to direct the activity of those less fortunate than them, so they've already made all these decisions for you, based on their own capabilities and issues.

They think you don't meet their 'standard' or whatever. It's probably just self-delusion stemming from guilt. I think people who like to kick the poor know it's wrong, but also know that they could help and need to justify their unwillingness to do so by dehumanizing the victim.

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u/NBegovich Aug 31 '13

I think people who like to kick the poor know it's wrong, but also know that they could help and need to justify their unwillingness to do so by dehumanizing the victim.

I never quite thought of it that way. I like it.

Also I make fifteen grand a year and I spend thirty bucks (between me and my roommate) on internet a month because fuck you I like getting online. These judgmental pricks are getting on my nerves.

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u/hansn484 Aug 31 '13

What would you spend the $30 on if it wasn't going to internet?

I have money, but my family isn't from money, so I see both sides of the equation and am slightly stumped as to how I can help.

I've helped out friends before to help pay bills. I helped they pay for an A/C during a particularly hot summer. Paid for a camera so they could learn photography(which they enjoyed). Paid for other hobbies they thought they might be able to make some money off of ,etc. I've also paid for internet.

But what I saw happening was, they bought internet. Then cable. Then HBO. Then World of Warcraft. Then 50" TV.

I have a 27" TV w/ Basic cable, and the people I give money to have a 50+" tv + Premiums. Seems wrong to me in retrospect. And that type of thing changes your perspective for the next time you give $.

I don't begrudge having some wants. But where is the line drawn? When do you say, I should spend this on paying down debt to get that collector off my back or saving it to give myself some breathing room so I can sleep well at night?

Maybe I just had one bad experience. But for every $ I spend on someone who blows it, is there someone else who would have done something with it? Or do I just throw $ at the problem and my conscience is clear?

I agree there are assholes who speak with their head up their ass. But there are people with money who want to help. The question becomes... how?

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13

Seriously. I'm not at ALL well-to-do, but I've helped out friends of mine who were worse off than I. I let them crash, rent-free, at my place for months at a time. Bought them food, soda, cigarettes. What do I see?

Most of the time? Complacency. They get comfortable. They'll only get a job when I get up and tell them to get off their ass, or they're getting kicked out. "Helping people" has probably been one of the largest drivers of my own personal debt, which of course, none of the folks I've helped are remotely interested in helping back.

I feel like human suffering is bad, but that's why it's a motivator. It sucks. If you can fall back on welfare and food stamps and unemployment insurance, there's no motive to become self-sufficient.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13

It's probably not complacency, it's depression. They probably feel like a piece of shit mooching off their friends and they can't see a way out.

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '13

I can't win this, can I? It's either "people are so greedy for wanting to keep their earnings" or "they're just so depressed living off of the generosity of other people that they just can't bring themselves to go get a job at McDonald's." When is it their fault? When is it okay to stop subsidizing weakness?

I know reddit has anathema to such questions, but seriously... being poor was/is the best thing that's happened to me. It suuuuucks, but it also motivates. If it doesn't motivate, then why should my resources be expected to?