me: >> No-one wants to >> bad-mouth a bubble when it's swelling.)
Carrol Cox wrote: > This almost seems to be an intrinsic feature of capitalism as such, > _not_ merely or at all some sort of "human failing." Using surveys and experiments, psychologists find that most of us are usually over-confident: that is, most think that they are "above average," which is impossible (like the children in Lake Woebegone).[*] I wonder why that may be so. What is it about capitalism that encourages such attitudes? (Obviously, the psychologists' evidence is almost totally from capitalist cases, if not completely so.) Capitalism throws each of us into individualized competition with each other. Though moderated by the remnants of previous institutional set-ups (such as families), the message is: you're on your own. It seems to me that this encourages over-confidence as a psychological survival mechanism. If you aren't over-confident, and start thinking about the odds against you, you give up, making survival less likely. But some -- a significant minority -- _do_ give up. So associated with the majority of over-confident people is a minority of depressed folks; over-confidence and depression might be seen as two sides of the same coin, with the possibility of flipping from one to the other always present. There's some evidence suggesting that the ranks of the depressed have been swelling over recent decades or centuries. Or maybe it's just easier to tell. (It's always quite difficult to tell if psychological disorders are becoming more prevalent or are just being diagnosed more.) That, of course, keeps Big Pharma in business, selling SSRIs. They're hoping, I'm sure, that the budgetary problems that are encouraging people to skip meds (recently reported in the NY TIMES) will be counteracted by the increasing prevalence of psychological depression due to the economic depression. I guess some smart economist which refer to this as the possibility that the income effect will be knocked out by the psych effect. [*] strangely, my students have never heard of that place or of Garrison Keillor. How depressing! -- Jim Devine / "Nobody told me there'd be days like these / Strange days indeed -- most peculiar, mama." -- JL. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
