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0 pointsJumpCrisscross1y ago0 comments

> Some people desperately want poverty to be due to individual moral failure, as opposed to a systemic failure

There are zealots on both sides. Brilliant people are poor because they were never given an opportunity while rich nincompoops accumulate aristocratic power. At the same time, plenty of people are poor because they can’t make good decisions or have zero emotional self control while a few go from rags to riches. The problem is blended, and it shouldn’t be beyond reproach to question whether some factors are heritable, whether genetically or through cultural transfer.

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kasey_junk1y ago

But one of those opinions flows power from the many to the few while the other the opposite. It is in and of itself political.

It of course shouldn’t be beyond reproach to do the research but it seems reasonable to be more critical of research that implies some implicit reinforcement of the current power structures because that’s what we’d get from bad research too.

JumpCrisscrossOP1y ago

> one of those opinions flows power from the many to the few while the other the opposite. It is in and of itself political

This is true of many things. That doesn’t mean asking the question is tainted. Anyone using either hypothesis as the basis for policy is similarly flawed in my view.

> seems reasonable to be more critical of research that implies some implicit reinforcement of the current power structures

There are massive power structures that benefit from the promulgation of either hypothesis.

kasey_junk1y ago

> Anyone using either hypothesis as the basis for policy is similarly flawed in my view.

This is a tacit endorsement of the current power structures. I don’t think that is _wrong_ just a political position. One I agree with which is uninteresting given the forum.

Your second hypothesis is one we might test. Can we formulate an experiment that asks how often brilliant minds cross class boundaries? Or idiots bring their house down?

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0 pointsJumpCrisscross1y ago0 comments

> Some people desperately want poverty to be due to individual moral failure, as opposed to a systemic failure

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kasey_junk1y ago

But one of those opinions flows power from the many to the few while the other the opposite. It is in and of itself political.

JumpCrisscrossOP1y ago

> one of those opinions flows power from the many to the few while the other the opposite. It is in and of itself political

This is true of many things. That doesn’t mean asking the question is tainted. Anyone using either hypothesis as the basis for policy is similarly flawed in my view.

> seems reasonable to be more critical of research that implies some implicit reinforcement of the current power structures

There are massive power structures that benefit from the promulgation of either hypothesis.

kasey_junk1y ago

> Anyone using either hypothesis as the basis for policy is similarly flawed in my view.

This is a tacit endorsement of the current power structures. I don’t think that is _wrong_ just a political position. One I agree with which is uninteresting given the forum.

Your second hypothesis is one we might test. Can we formulate an experiment that asks how often brilliant minds cross class boundaries? Or idiots bring their house down?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse