4 ms·

tldr: if someone’s poor they won’t form a “positive mindset” or “internal locus of control” because their life is objectively sucky and they objectively have li

tldr: if someone’s poor they won’t form a “positive mindset” or “internal locus of control” because their life is objectively sucky and they objectively have little control over it. If someone struggles to afford basic necessities like food and rent, and there’s simply no clear opportunity for them to not struggle without tremendous effort, they’re not going to try. This is a well-written article but it seems to me as kind of obvious. Is there something here that i’m missing?

newsclues 5y ago
If you spend time on the wrong parts of social media you will find that there is an industry of people (billionaire lifestyle type influencers) who are exploiting people that can’t grasp this.
csee 5y ago
I see it as a rather biased and unhelpful article. The author makes the strong claim that "mindsets are not free-floating" because they are shaped too strongly by a person's external social environment and circumstances. While this is largely true, it is false and harmful in its absoluteness. Interventions into thinking patterns such as CBT work and are effective. They may be less effective if the person has truly terrible circumstances, but poo pooing stuff that actually works just so she can advance her luxury beliefs is not good. People trapped in poverty need these cognitive tools more than anyone given how desperate their situation is. Poverty is every bit as traumatizing and difficult and impossible as she says it is, and such tools can help them avoid getting their spirit crushed under that hardship. I think that she's doing this because she feels that the narrative that poor people can simply change their mindset and become middle class to be undermining political momentum towards helping them. She may be right about that, but that is no reason to throw away a practically helpful intervention that can help these people in the meantime.
- bitexploder 5y ago
  I look to the worst situations in humanity for thinking about this. Stockdale is well known for becoming a POW and using stoicism to survive it. And to teach others and lead them using this mindset. Mindset is everything for a human. Encouraging a positive one is not wrong. It is also not a panacea or anything.

newsclues 5y ago

If you spend time on the wrong parts of social media you will find that there is an industry of people (billionaire lifestyle type influencers) who are exploiting people that can’t grasp this.

csee 5y ago

I see it as a rather biased and unhelpful article. The author makes the strong claim that "mindsets are not free-floating" because they are shaped too strongly by a person's external social environment and circumstances. While this is largely true, it is false and harmful in its absoluteness. Interventions into thinking patterns such as CBT work and are effective. They may be less effective if the person has truly terrible circumstances, but poo pooing stuff that actually works just so she can advance her luxury beliefs is not good. People trapped in poverty need these cognitive tools more than anyone given how desperate their situation is. Poverty is every bit as traumatizing and difficult and impossible as she says it is, and such tools can help them avoid getting their spirit crushed under that hardship. I think that she's doing this because she feels that the narrative that poor people can simply change their mindset and become middle class to be undermining political momentum towards helping them. She may be right about that, but that is no reason to throw away a practically helpful intervention that can help these people in the meantime.

bitexploder 5y ago
I look to the worst situations in humanity for thinking about this. Stockdale is well known for becoming a POW and using stoicism to survive it. And to teach others and lead them using this mindset. Mindset is everything for a human. Encouraging a positive one is not wrong. It is also not a panacea or anything.