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"people of upper-class status aren't very good at recognizing the emotions other people are feeling. The researchers speculate that this is because they can solve their problems, like the daycare example, without relying on others -- they aren't as dependent on the people around them. Maybe most fascinating is that "when people were made to feel that they were at a lower social class than they actually were, they got better at reading emotions," suggesting that even a temporary shift in context can account for behavioral changes."

I am inclined to agree with you, it's a class thing rather than a money thing. we're subjected to a fair bit of it here in the UK, but are expected to 'play the game'

A lot of heavyweight thinkers have offered explanations of the irrationality of modern political behavior--you know, behavior like Medicare recipients at town halls screaming about the evils of government-run health care or otherwise reasonable people likening Obama's plan to Nazi eugenics. George Lakoff theorizes that conservatives interpret reality through metaphors and meta-narratives modeled after authoritarian family structures. Drew Westen argues that they interpret facts according to emotionally based investments in conclusions they already hold, bypassing cortical centers of reason altogether. These and other analyses are powerful and helpful. But they aren't satisfying to me because they aren't specific enough to account for the passionate urgency and self-destructiveness of the right-wing rejection of a program that will obviously benefit them.

http://www.ted.com Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that well be miserable if we dont get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things dont go as planned.     TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and perfor

Thousands of under-16s are on antidepressants, and mental health problems in the young are on the rise. John Crace asks why 

It's a cool study, but who wants to sit at a computer all day, getting paid to "take a test". "In a real-life scenario, a student who stayed home to study and then learned he had missed a fun party would be less likely to study next time in a similar situation -- even if that option provides more long-term benefits." This only proves that our current education system fails. Ask any student if they like school, they'll all say no. Hell, I'd rather be working then studying or doing homework, at least I get paid for it. Ask any post-grad and most will say they aren't working in the career they went to college for. So why should I study for a test to pass a course that means nothing to my future? Our current education system fails to do many things, it's a shame it's still broken.