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Poverty saps the brain: US-India study
AFP News ^ | August 29, 2013

Posted on 08/29/2013 5:19:28 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Experiments show that poverty saps people's brainpower and may lower IQ by 13 points, scientists said Thursday.

The findings in the US journal Science suggest that being poor can drain a person's mental resources, leaving him or her less capable of focusing on other things, like solving problems and controlling impulses.

Rather than blaming poverty on the individual or the environment, the study suggests that the state of being poor exerts the same effect as losing a full night's sleep or having lower intelligence.

Researchers sampled some 400 people with incomes ranging from $20,000 to $70,000 at a shopping mall in New Jersey.

(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: stupid
Stupid is as stupid does.
1 posted on 08/29/2013 5:19:28 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

So does liberalism...


2 posted on 08/29/2013 5:21:10 PM PDT by alice_in_bubbaland (When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes mandatory- Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Must be why a certain segment spends $300 on a pair of sneakers.


3 posted on 08/29/2013 5:25:55 PM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
poverty saps people's brainpower and may lower IQ by 13 points

Rather mixes up cause with effect, doesn't it. All too typical of liberalism.

4 posted on 08/29/2013 5:27:34 PM PDT by BfloGuy (People who know what theyÂ’re talking about donÂ’t need PowerPoint.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Correlation does not imply causation. Most of the people I know that are poor smoke pot. Just sayin’


5 posted on 08/29/2013 5:28:13 PM PDT by wizwor
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Uh, the "400 people in a shopping mall" thing suggests the type of study methodology that only finds correlation, not causality. How do they know the people aren't poor BECAUSE they're dumber? Or is it not PC to assume wealth might naturally be unevenly distributed against intelligence?

OTOH, diet does affect your ability to think, and if the poor tend to eat crap, it wouldn't surprise me if it did tend to lower IQ. Fat, for example. If you don't get enough fat, your brain doesn't work right. (Not that I think fat deficiency is the problem with American poor, just illustrating the diet-intelligence link)

Nevertheless, if they use a study design that only detects correlation, and they make the magic leap from there, not only to causality, but to assuming they know the direction of causality, then all I can say is: How arrogant (probably agenda driven)!

6 posted on 08/29/2013 5:28:15 PM PDT by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

How does that explain the Obamadork?


7 posted on 08/29/2013 5:28:21 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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