Again I disagree. Rather than correlative I think they are well on the way to causative.
REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 1:16 AM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION; michael gurstein Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW How Wealth Reduces Compassion In principle I could well accept the suggestion of the Berkeley psychologists but these experiments haven't shown that "as people climb the social ladder, their compassionate feelings towards other people decline". All that they have suggested so far is that there is a correlation between status and impetuosity in a couple of specific situations. Impetuosity (or high status) cannot be interpreted as lack of empathy or compassion in a general way. The same high status experimentees would have to be tested in other situations also. Furthermore, nothing can be said about the effect of actually climbing the social ladder. The experiments were merely snapshots of individuals who'd already arrived at an assumed status (on the basis of the car they drove). To prove that the climbing is the cause would need a longitudinal survey from, say adolescence (when status aspirations first become apparent) to at least late middle age (when even high status individuals have peaked). Keith At 02:53 25/04/2012, you wrote: -----Original Message----- From: Portside Moderator [ mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> ] Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 5:39 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [SPAM] How Wealth Reduces Compassion How Wealth Reduces Compassion As riches grow, empathy for others seems to decline By Daisy Grewal Scientific America April 10, 2012 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-wealth-reduces-compassi on Who is more likely to lie, cheat, and steal - the poor person or the rich one? It’s temping to think that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to act fairly. After all, if you already have enough for yourself, it’s easier to think about what others may need. But research suggests the opposite is true: as people climb the social ladder, their compassionate feelings towards other people decline. Berkeley psychologists Paul Piff and Dacher Keltner ran several studies looking at whether social class (as measured by wealth, occupational prestige, and education) influences how much we care about the feelings of others. In one study, Piff and his colleagues discreetly observed the behavior of drivers at a busy four- way intersection. They found that luxury car drivers were more likely to cut off other motorists instead of waiting for their turn at the intersection. This was true for both men and women upper- class drivers, regardless of the time of day or the amount of traffic at the intersection. In a different study they found that luxury car drivers were also more likely to speed past a pedestrian trying to use a crosswalk, even after making eye contact with the pedestrian. To read more, go to http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-wealth-reduces-compassi on ___________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. Submit via email: [email protected] Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate !DSPAM:2676,4f974850196997154348108! _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com <http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/>
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