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> These effects of local context are particularly significant for children from poorer backgrounds, who are particularly vulnerable to family instability, conce

> These effects of local context are particularly significant for children from poorer backgrounds, who are particularly vulnerable to family instability, concentrated poverty, racial segregation, school quality, and curtailed interaction within social networks that may otherwise positively support development of aspirations, social mimicking, and role modeling Is this a polite way of saying there is a problem with the culture within these social networks of people with poorer backgrounds? If not, what does the part on family instability and social mimicking and all that mean?

voidhorse 2y ago
It's a clunky way to suggest that spending time in environments where people have greater access to material resources might benefit you if you don't have that access at home. It's a mistake to assume that culture is the causal factor, it's usually the other way around. If you come from a population that was denied equal opportunity for generations you are already starting the race five laps behind. This, understandably, leads to frustration, extra economic pressure on parents, etc. etc. Contrarily, if mommy and daddy have generational wealth and you start off life with a billion in the bank, it's a lot easier to devote time and energy to "higher minded" pursuits and ideals, to play a round of polo, or have tea. The quote explicitly doesn't mention culture because it is totally orthogonal to the problem which is driven predominantly by access, or lack thereof, to material resources. The role modeling is a happy side effect of being around people that aren't under the same economic duress, and thus aren't suffering the same pressures. Morality, culture, refinement are all things which have nothing whatsoever to do with financial success. The most successful business man in the room is typically far more amoral and cutthroat than the poorest beggar.
- PaulHoule 2y ago
  What I find remarkable when I go to NYC for work is that I see many black people in the subway or at street level but when I go past the guard at the desk and go up the elevator black people become scarce. When I go to NYC I find numerous opportunities for networking that I read about online or that I find out about from my friends and co-workers. For instance an organization that accredits accountants puts on great free conferences, one of which brought together established finance organizations such as the DTCC with blockchain startups. If I lived in the city I know I could go to free or inexpensive events, chat people up, and find opportunities. Somehow that doesn't work for black people or I'd see more of them working in finance and other industries concentrated there.
  - voidhorse 2y ago
    This kind of attitude is quite literally an exemplar of the kind of thinking that can either lead to the right conclusions or to racism. Either you think these behaviors are the consequence of a complicated asymmetrical, dynamical system or the consequence of inherent bodily qualities (race). The world is complicated. Consider that the following possibilities are all more likely explanations for the behavior you think you are seeing: 1. You have a limited perspective and your sample size is insanely small compared to global scale behavioral phenomena. Perhaps you are simply not attending diverse meetings. 2. Historical priors are a significant causal factor in behavior. If you are born on a farm, you are much more likely to have milked a cow than if you are born in a city. If you are not born into a scenario into which attendance in certain circles is not already established practice, the likelihood that you will attend those circles is lower. 3. In relation to (2) your historical-social conditions also determine the information to which you have access. Information is not equally, symmetrically distributed. Your access to information (such as information about local events) will determine your ability to act. What you are seeing are the effects of years of historical domination and subjugation. When your ancestors were literal slaves and explicitly excluded from information and opportunities, across generations you are fighting a losing battle. Couple this with the fact that, if you do find your way into one of these circles, hardly anyone else looks like you, and there is some degree of likelihood you'll meet a person who harbors a slew of unjustified assumptions about who your are and how you'll behave, simply because of a property of your body, which is totally irrelevant. Women face the same exact challenges when it comes to sexism. All it takes to correct your perspective is to think for two seconds about the scope of the information you have and the scope of the conclusions you are drawing, it makes no sense.

voidhorse 2y ago

It's a clunky way to suggest that spending time in environments where people have greater access to material resources might benefit you if you don't have that access at home. It's a mistake to assume that culture is the causal factor, it's usually the other way around. If you come from a population that was denied equal opportunity for generations you are already starting the race five laps behind. This, understandably, leads to frustration, extra economic pressure on parents, etc. etc. Contrarily, if mommy and daddy have generational wealth and you start off life with a billion in the bank, it's a lot easier to devote time and energy to "higher minded" pursuits and ideals, to play a round of polo, or have tea. The quote explicitly doesn't mention culture because it is totally orthogonal to the problem which is driven predominantly by access, or lack thereof, to material resources. The role modeling is a happy side effect of being around people that aren't under the same economic duress, and thus aren't suffering the same pressures. Morality, culture, refinement are all things which have nothing whatsoever to do with financial success. The most successful business man in the room is typically far more amoral and cutthroat than the poorest beggar.

PaulHoule 2y ago
What I find remarkable when I go to NYC for work is that I see many black people in the subway or at street level but when I go past the guard at the desk and go up the elevator black people become scarce. When I go to NYC I find numerous opportunities for networking that I read about online or that I find out about from my friends and co-workers. For instance an organization that accredits accountants puts on great free conferences, one of which brought together established finance organizations such as the DTCC with blockchain startups. If I lived in the city I know I could go to free or inexpensive events, chat people up, and find opportunities. Somehow that doesn't work for black people or I'd see more of them working in finance and other industries concentrated there.
- voidhorse 2y ago
  This kind of attitude is quite literally an exemplar of the kind of thinking that can either lead to the right conclusions or to racism. Either you think these behaviors are the consequence of a complicated asymmetrical, dynamical system or the consequence of inherent bodily qualities (race). The world is complicated. Consider that the following possibilities are all more likely explanations for the behavior you think you are seeing: 1. You have a limited perspective and your sample size is insanely small compared to global scale behavioral phenomena. Perhaps you are simply not attending diverse meetings. 2. Historical priors are a significant causal factor in behavior. If you are born on a farm, you are much more likely to have milked a cow than if you are born in a city. If you are not born into a scenario into which attendance in certain circles is not already established practice, the likelihood that you will attend those circles is lower. 3. In relation to (2) your historical-social conditions also determine the information to which you have access. Information is not equally, symmetrically distributed. Your access to information (such as information about local events) will determine your ability to act. What you are seeing are the effects of years of historical domination and subjugation. When your ancestors were literal slaves and explicitly excluded from information and opportunities, across generations you are fighting a losing battle. Couple this with the fact that, if you do find your way into one of these circles, hardly anyone else looks like you, and there is some degree of likelihood you'll meet a person who harbors a slew of unjustified assumptions about who your are and how you'll behave, simply because of a property of your body, which is totally irrelevant. Women face the same exact challenges when it comes to sexism. All it takes to correct your perspective is to think for two seconds about the scope of the information you have and the scope of the conclusions you are drawing, it makes no sense.