5 ms·

To Help Tackle Inequality, Remember the Advantages You’ve Had

31 points by yarapavan 8y ago

yarapavan 8y ago
Freakonomics podcast - http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-my-life-so-hard/ http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-my-life-so-hard/
- YinglingLight 8y ago
  Interesting how they discount the "headwinds" that white males are feeling, and don't go into detail about the perceived "headwinds" that half the country is currently hallucinating in.
polskibus 8y ago
The asymmetry depends on the culture. In some cultures moaning is more common than in the others, using Google in English to gauge that, results in serious skew.
dominotw 8y ago
I've seen this argument that if outcomes of public services( like education) is not upto par then the problem is that there wasn't enough funding for these programs and solution is to increase funding. is this argument is fundamentally unfalsifiable? Is it possible to do estimations like we do for software projects. Improving education by x% will cost y$ or are there way too many moving variable to any sort of estimations.
- cheez 8y ago
  Yes, but that's not really important. People will always want more money, not less.
- bena 8y ago
  I've discovered a term recently that I'm fascinated by: "wicked problem"[1]. Could education be a wicked problem? We know that the students didn't meet the standards. So there is a problem. But are the standards too high? Are the teachers not doing well enough? Are the materials not adequate enough? Etc. And we can't know what will fix the problem until we attempt the solution. And if the proposed solution doesn't work, we might not even know because the issue could have multiple causes. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem
cheez 8y ago
Anecdata shows that summer camps in things children are interested in are the single most important thing for building esteem, which is its own tailwind.
socrates1998 8y ago
I think the illusion we have is that we suffer more than others, or that other people do not suffer as much as we do. Sure, we have all had advantages in life, but we have all had problems as well. Rich people have problems just as much as poor people. Rich people problems are much different than poor people ones, but they are still there. Too, I think that American culture tends to create the illusion that if you are not super successful, then you are a loser. I think this especially applies to middle class and upper middle class people. For whatever reason, our culture has cultivated this cult of success and it just drives people crazy, and sadly, to depression and suicide. We have deluded ourselves into thinking that more success and more money will somehow result in a lot less suffering. Then, when we taste success or money, we realize that it has very little to do with happiness or suffering. I know a lot of successful people who hate their lives and other people who are not "successful" that are much more satisfied with their lives.
- dsfyu404ed 8y ago
  There's a very big difference between making enough money to be financially stable and being one unexpected large expense away from not being able to pay some bills or the rent.
- pasquinelli 8y ago
  i'm having trouble thinking of a rich person problem that wouldn't also be a problem poor people face at least as much.
  - bob_theslob646 8y ago
    Terminal cancer,etc.
    - InitialLastName 8y ago
      > a problem poor people face at least as much. I'll see your "terminal cancer" with "any cancer with no ability to pay for treatment or care". Even if it's terminal, the wealthy can afford to die much more comfortably.
justinator 8y ago
It seems appropriate to plug Vicktor Frankl's book, Man's Search For Meaning to anyone who can clearly see themselves in an advantage position of privilege in life, but who still feels terribly empty inside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning
- birdmanjeremy 8y ago
  I just read this (again) during a bit of an existential crisis. It's certainly a good read, and puts things in perspective.
dhamma999 8y ago
Could anyone link to the non-paywalled source research paper listed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27869473 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27869473 ?

31 points by yarapavan 8y ago

Freakonomics podcast - http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-my-life-so-hard/ http://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-is-my-life-so-hard/

YinglingLight 8y ago
Interesting how they discount the "headwinds" that white males are feeling, and don't go into detail about the perceived "headwinds" that half the country is currently hallucinating in.

polskibus 8y ago

The asymmetry depends on the culture. In some cultures moaning is more common than in the others, using Google in English to gauge that, results in serious skew.

dominotw 8y ago

I've seen this argument that if outcomes of public services( like education) is not upto par then the problem is that there wasn't enough funding for these programs and solution is to increase funding. is this argument is fundamentally unfalsifiable? Is it possible to do estimations like we do for software projects. Improving education by x% will cost y$ or are there way too many moving variable to any sort of estimations.

cheez 8y ago
Yes, but that's not really important. People will always want more money, not less.
bena 8y ago
I've discovered a term recently that I'm fascinated by: "wicked problem"[1]. Could education be a wicked problem? We know that the students didn't meet the standards. So there is a problem. But are the standards too high? Are the teachers not doing well enough? Are the materials not adequate enough? Etc. And we can't know what will fix the problem until we attempt the solution. And if the proposed solution doesn't work, we might not even know because the issue could have multiple causes. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem

cheez 8y ago

Anecdata shows that summer camps in things children are interested in are the single most important thing for building esteem, which is its own tailwind.

socrates1998 8y ago

I think the illusion we have is that we suffer more than others, or that other people do not suffer as much as we do. Sure, we have all had advantages in life, but we have all had problems as well. Rich people have problems just as much as poor people. Rich people problems are much different than poor people ones, but they are still there. Too, I think that American culture tends to create the illusion that if you are not super successful, then you are a loser. I think this especially applies to middle class and upper middle class people. For whatever reason, our culture has cultivated this cult of success and it just drives people crazy, and sadly, to depression and suicide. We have deluded ourselves into thinking that more success and more money will somehow result in a lot less suffering. Then, when we taste success or money, we realize that it has very little to do with happiness or suffering. I know a lot of successful people who hate their lives and other people who are not "successful" that are much more satisfied with their lives.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago
There's a very big difference between making enough money to be financially stable and being one unexpected large expense away from not being able to pay some bills or the rent.
pasquinelli 8y ago
i'm having trouble thinking of a rich person problem that wouldn't also be a problem poor people face at least as much.
- bob_theslob646 8y ago
  Terminal cancer,etc.
  - InitialLastName 8y ago
    > a problem poor people face at least as much. I'll see your "terminal cancer" with "any cancer with no ability to pay for treatment or care". Even if it's terminal, the wealthy can afford to die much more comfortably.

justinator 8y ago

It seems appropriate to plug Vicktor Frankl's book, Man's Search For Meaning to anyone who can clearly see themselves in an advantage position of privilege in life, but who still feels terribly empty inside. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man%27s_Search_for_Meaning

birdmanjeremy 8y ago
I just read this (again) during a bit of an existential crisis. It's certainly a good read, and puts things in perspective.

dhamma999 8y ago

Could anyone link to the non-paywalled source research paper listed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27869473 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27869473 ?