Posted: Dec 23, 2010 3:49 am
Witticism wrote:The Damned wrote:tribalypredisposed wrote:As I posted early on in the "parent" thread, there are a number of clear advantages for those lacking in the empathy department when it comes to getting rich.
I gave the example of my grandfather allowing the theft of his medical advances to avoid them being kept off the market by litigation. Others made millions off of this theft, so the person with empathy lost out and those with no empathy or morals got rich.
Those with a lot of empathy also spend a lot of time and effort helping other people. My mom and her best friend started an orphanage and school in Zambia, and neither was even close to wealthy. The ability to fly to a country one has never been to before with less than a thousand dollars to your name and a vision and to go from there to many acres of land, scores of happy kids, housing, a school with a library and computer center, a farm, etc shows that the two of them could have achieved a lot for themselves if they had chosen to. (http://www.zambianchildrensfund.org/)
And the recent example of a couple who won the lottery and gave 98% of it to charity also shows that those on the high end of the empathy scale have a marked disadvantage when it comes to being wealthy.
I have yet to read the story of the self-made rich person who spent hours doing volunteer work on their way up.
I also think it is obvious that being good at lying confers an advantage, that is the point of lying, and that psychopaths are good liars is not really disputed.
At least at the ends of the bell curve, extreme empathy confers huge disadvanteges when it comes to the acquisition and maintenance of wealth while extreme lack of empathy does the opposite.
QFT I really can't argue with any of that. Thanks for your insight.
I can.
First of try avoid using the following fallacies:
to make a point as they are easily criticized.tribalypredisposed wrote:I have yet to read the story of the self-made rich person who spent hours doingvolunteer work on their way up
Well you just need to read moreas appearance isn't all ways at it seems and education - specifically financial education has more to do with a person's ability to create wealth than whether or not they are empathitc.
You could be the least empathetic person in the world and have zero finacial literacy and hence zero wealth.
Or you could be the most empathetic person in the world, a lot of finacial literacy and a lot of wealth.
Here's an anecdote, (seeing as that is what is required in this thread) ...
My twin brother is far wealthier than I am but being twins we are probably identical when it comes to our 'empathy'. I think we probably donate about the same % of our wealth to charity .... but he employees 7 people ... and pays them all more than market value ... plus he helps his client create financial independence so they are not reliant on other taxpayers when they retire.
So by employing 7 people - in essence he is giving 'away' for more wealth than he could donate out of his own pocket.
Appearances are deceptive.
You have to separate the person from the Money.Most people are good.
Some people are bad.
Some bad people have lots of money.
Some bad people have no money.
It really is that simple.
Okay....so...thanks for the heads-up on the fallacies that I have not committed. (?)
Often people need to justify/rationalize their own greed. Paying people to work for you is not "giving away" anything. If you want to discuss the topic of what altruism means I am happy to oblige, or you can just look it up in a dictionary.
Yes, you can do good things and make money as well. I have worked for a company recognized with an award for helping in the community, and the owners are wealthy. So? Have you understood the question posed at the top of the thread? I cannot see how the answer might be yes.
I identified and gave examples of ways in which those who were high in empathy would be at a statistical disadvantage for becoming wealthy and remaining so. I also gave examples of how the opposite was true for those very lacking in empathy. I further stipulated that these were most likely to affect those on each extreme of the bell curve of human empathy. You seem not to know what a bell curve is either; I could post a link but I am hoping you know how to Google.
Many people who become wealthy simply pursue their passions or fill an existing need in the community and work hard at it. My former employers saw the need for a high quality children's book and toy store in the community and they worked very hard, were very organized, and were generous towards the community and the community paid them back with a lot of business. That is all good, and the owners are more empathetic than average for sure, but they are not on the edge of the bell curve ready to risk life and limb to smuggle refugees or start an orphanage in a distant country.
The assignment as I understood it was to identify if and why there would be a statistical variation between the wealthy and poor when it came to empathy. That is what I attempted to contribute an answer to. What you are talking about, I am not sure.