Hey heathcliffe,
We've discussed our mutual admiration for Robert Sapolsky. Here's a great discussion he had with Ezra Klein. As a teacher, I was especially interested in how poverty eventually plays out in classroom behaviors. It's a fascinating and all too predictable sequential chain of events: being raised in poverty leads to chronic stress/trauma, which has a deleterious effect on brain formation and function, and in the classroom, the child, through no fault of his own, has diminished impulse control, poor executive function, and reduced working memory. And there are undoubtedly more tragic consequences down the road. So much for free will. And because 99% of humanity is thoroughly ignorant of this causal chain, they think people are simply of low morals, if not downright evil. Oh, and throw in how humans relish the opportunity to judge others and mete out justice! The suffering, the wasted potential, the horror...the price we pay for what we don't know. There is however some hope: a loving, involved mother can sometimes serve as the antidote to these ills!
Peter T
