this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2025
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That experiment is actually a pretty good microcosm of how psychology has come up short in handling the mental trauma associated with poverty.
Something they didn't really consider with those kids was the possibility of a child to just not trust the researcher, which is also a valid concern for people in poverty. Sometimes you just aren't given the shit you were promised in life so it makes sense to take the immediate option. Sometimes you live in a system that is designed to keep you poor because your impoverishment is beneficial to the economic model as a whole
Honestly, my first thought with almost any study on stuff like this is, "did you control for economic status?"
It's always the same shit: people who play golf live longer? Yeah, if they can afford to play an expensive game that takes a half a day to complete, they probably have more money and free time and less physical strain or emotional stress than the wage-slaves sorting boxes and hoping to be asked to work overtime so they can buy their kids braces.