A new series. Ties in seamlessly with tip 85 of “97-Science Backed Ways to Improve Productivity and Creativity,” written by me and available on Medium.

85. Apparently, there’s research indicating that being poor, being economically burdened impairs cognition and that impairment is like a 13-point drop in IQ or like the difference between chronic alcoholics and those without chronic alcoholism.

This correlation between financial pressure and cognition (or mental bandwidth) has been researched by MacArthur Genius, Harvard Economics professor, and author of Scarcity: Why Having So Little Means So Much, Sendhil Mullainathan. [tip 86 of 105] of 97 Science-Backed Tips for Improved Productivity + Creativity

Emoji time: + =

Implied by Mullainathan: can theoretically be replaced with anything that ties mental space up in that thing, thereby fracturing your thinking.

You can learn about this more in depth by reading his book (#notsponsored) or listening to his podcast on the Ezra Klein show (#stillnotsponsored). ☕️

I find this research compelling and something that should stir society to detach from this myth that the p o o r are p o o r because of their own defects and not because their poverty makes it m o r e difficult for them to wrestle from it, especially when a vividly plausible explanation is that financial security may equip you with more tools to access even greater financial security than a clear lack of security, financial or otherwise.