1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: From UFOs to ghosts and government cover ups. Histories write 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 1: with unexplained events. You can turn back now or learn 3 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: the stuff they don't want you to now. Hello, welcome 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: back to the show. My name is Matt and I 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: am Ben and that makes this stuff they don't want 6 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,079 Speaker 1: you to know. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, today we are 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: recording our very first podcast of Yes. Isn't that weird? 8 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: It's great. I'm excited for it. Yeah, I'm excited. To 9 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: my friend, I can't wait to see where this crazy 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: ride goes. You know, we even had someone recently, uh 11 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: email our bosses and say that we need to get 12 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: a raise. Oh, yes, yes, I was so kind. Uh 13 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: we Yeah, we did have somebody who wrote to us 14 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: on Twitter where we're at conspiracy stuff and said, you 15 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: guys deserve a raise, and we ingest said right to 16 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: our bosses, and they totally did. Yeah. One of our 17 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,080 Speaker 1: bosses forwarded the email to us. I don't think we're 18 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,880 Speaker 1: in trouble, but we really appreciate that. So we might 19 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: who knows, maybe we'll make a little more money and 20 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,119 Speaker 1: and uh, we don't want to make too much, right, Yeah, 21 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: that's right, because we we've heard this everyone's heard it 22 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: that money can't really buy happiness. And you know, we're 23 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: not trying to make more money to be happy. Um, 24 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: we're trying to get more money because it tends to 25 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: make things a little easier, right, Well, As an obsessive collector, 26 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: I do want all of the money, but so that 27 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: I can have each serial number. Oh, absolutely right. There's 28 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: a great Monty Python quote that's about this where he 29 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: compares I think it's John Clee. Someone correct me. He 30 00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: compares chocolate to money and he says, you know, the 31 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: love of money gets weird at the top, and I'm 32 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: pair for raising here says you know, let's say that 33 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: I had a bit of chocolate and you found a 34 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,239 Speaker 1: bit of chocolate my refrigerator. Well you would say that's understandable. 35 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,839 Speaker 1: Everybody likes chocolate. Let's say that you opened the door 36 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: to my house it was just filled with chocolate. And 37 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,799 Speaker 1: not only you know, not only did I want all 38 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: of the chocolate, I didn't want you to have any 39 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: because that's how about chocolate. I I want the chocolate 40 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: that you brought into my apartment. So that's an awkward comparison. 41 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: I'll have to find the quote, but it is illuminating 42 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: because what we have found, surprisingly enough, is that apparently 43 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: past a certain threshold, uh, studies indicate that having a 44 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: lot of money can make you a bad person. Now, 45 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: there are a lot of caveats with that statement, but 46 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: and we'll kind of get into those later. But when 47 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: we say bad person, we're talking a lot about social norms, 48 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: social interaction. Um. And when we say money, we're talking 49 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:02,440 Speaker 1: about pretty high amounts, like large amounts of money. Right. So, 50 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,680 Speaker 1: just for comparison, as of two thousand thirteen, the median 51 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: household income in the United States was just under fifty 52 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:14,560 Speaker 1: two thousand dollars. That's fifty one thirty nine. And remember 53 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: that's a household, so that could be four people, right, 54 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 1: annual income. H Uh. And it's safe to say that 55 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: most Americans want more money, even if they're fairly well off. 56 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: We'll get into that part, sure, because it means you 57 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: get to be you get the next tier of things 58 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: where you get a little it's a little easier to 59 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: pay off your bills, so you can have more money 60 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: to spend on other things, right, sure. And money also 61 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: it clearly changes the way we interact with our external environments. 62 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: And uh, you know, I can be a bit cynical 63 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: about this match. So I'm gonna try to be diplomatic 64 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: when I say that in large enough amounts, money often 65 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: replaces beauty, talent, intelligence, ability, um, have worthiness really for 66 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: admission into top schools and things like that. Yeah, greasing 67 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: of the palms and a greasing of other things. And 68 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: that sounds wrong and sexual, but it's not. Okay, just 69 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: you can grease your way with a little money through 70 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: a lot of doors and windows and opportunities. Oh this 71 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: greasy world. Okay, Uh, so that is true. That is true. 72 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: But there's also a point here where we have to 73 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: ask if money has such an enormous potential power in 74 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: the external world, then what about the internal world? How 75 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: does it change you? Um? And we found that apparently yes, uh, 76 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,840 Speaker 1: having a higher level of income or wealth tend to 77 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: make people behave in a more selfish, less cooperative manner. 78 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: And it's something that we will look into later. That 79 00:04:47,279 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: a lot of people on our video that we just 80 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: posted the vlog about five reasons money can make you 81 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: a bad person. Um, they're mentioning that maybe it's a 82 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 1: uh a correla action that is opposite or vice versa. Okay, um, 83 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: and we'll kind of go into that later. But maybe 84 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: having the money doesn't make you bad person. Maybe making 85 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: you a bad person get you the money, I see, right, 86 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: So maybe it's a skill set that is necessary to 87 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 1: acquire a deal of wealth. And with that kind of 88 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: thing in mind here, we just want to mention that 89 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: we're not podcasting within with an agenda today. We're not 90 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:28,600 Speaker 1: trying to tell you that being rich is bad. Right. 91 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: This is not going to be some clarion call for 92 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: socialism or communism or some other ism disguised as a podcast. 93 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: And we certainly don't think just on a personal level. 94 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 1: And and Nol I'm I'm including you in this as well. Uh, 95 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: big hand for our super producer Noel Brown. As always, 96 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,119 Speaker 1: we don't think none of us that one specific type 97 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:58,159 Speaker 1: of government or belief system is going to solve the 98 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:03,800 Speaker 1: rampant systemic problem of inequality in the world today. And furthermore, 99 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,280 Speaker 1: the presence of inequality is not necessarily a bad thing. 100 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,280 Speaker 1: It's more of a in terms of degree, right, yeah, right, 101 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: If you get too much, you can have a huge 102 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,919 Speaker 1: amounts of destabilization in a society as a whole or 103 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,040 Speaker 1: in parts of the society. Sure. Yeah, And uh, here's 104 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: a scary fact for some of the people who follow 105 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: US politics and political economy. Right now, I think the 106 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: levels of inequality in the United States are higher than 107 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: they've been since what right before the depression. I believe 108 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: we are getting ready to surpass, if not surpass that 109 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: level proportionally where it gilded age ratios. Uh and who 110 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: knows what that will bring. But uh, what we're saying 111 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: is that inequality to some degree exists in every society. 112 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,360 Speaker 1: We also don't think it's possible for one sweeping statement 113 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: to describe an entire group. For every you know, Al Dunlap, 114 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: there's a Warren buffet of some sort, right. The idea 115 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,960 Speaker 1: is that there are a whole lot of people with 116 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: a whole lot of money, um, but of course there 117 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: are a whole hell of a lot more people with 118 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: little to none of it. And you know, we're not 119 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: saying that these statements when we're talking about studies in 120 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: the future here, very near future, we're not saying they 121 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: apply to everybody. They just applied in these particular uh 122 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: case studies. Right. Yeah. What we are saying, however, is 123 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: that people with a lot of money do have tendencies 124 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: or likelihoods towards certain activities that the poor are much 125 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: less likely to do. And what we're going to see 126 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: here is that multiple studies find that high income people 127 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,239 Speaker 1: in this threshold of what high income has varies, tend 128 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: to do shady, sketchy things. That is not the word 129 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: I put in the out, shady and sketchy things. Now this, uh, 130 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: this research does bear it out, and we're going to 131 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 1: learn that people very high incomes are more likely to 132 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:13,160 Speaker 1: be a bad driver, to cheat or lie, to feel 133 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: less empathy towards other human beings, to steal or shoplift, 134 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: and also to stink at reading the emotions, the facial 135 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: expressions and body language of another person. Yeah, which is 136 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: an important thing, and we'll find some interesting wrinkles to 137 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 1: this story. But before we continue, one thing we should 138 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: do real quick is say the difference between income and wealth. 139 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: Income is what you receive for a job. So if 140 00:08:42,240 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: you make twenty dollars a year or two and fifty 141 00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:51,920 Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year, that would be your income. Wealth 142 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: will be like an asset, so right houses, property stocks 143 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 1: um often inherited right and that's why you can hear 144 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: stories about you know European aristocrats who come from very 145 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: old families and have technically a lot of wealth because 146 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: they've inherited these estates, but they don't have an income 147 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: to support the taxation or the maintenance or the upkeep. Uh. 148 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: And it's a it's a very strange problem to be in. 149 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 1: But but we want to say that there is a 150 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,880 Speaker 1: difference between income and wealth. While we may use these interchangeably, 151 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: there is definitely a difference. Absolutely. Now, before we get 152 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:42,680 Speaker 1: into the actual studies, Ben I think we should take 153 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: a quick break here and hear a word from our sponsors, 154 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: and we are back. So we talked a little bit 155 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:59,160 Speaker 1: about wealth versus income, the the strange things that money 156 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: can do, just society, the love of money being root 157 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 1: of all evil, whether money can buy happiness. But let's 158 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: talk about some specific studies. Well, what what are we 159 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: basing these accusations of lying and cheating and stealing upon. Well, 160 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: we're we're basing it on fairly liberal institutions that have 161 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: a couple of people, especially this gentleman named Paul piff 162 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:30,439 Speaker 1: who have led studies, teams of people who have been 163 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 1: studying this stuff, um, the effects of wealth and the 164 00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: effects of higher incomes and the actions of people with 165 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: higher incomes versus the actions of people with lower incomes. 166 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:44,520 Speaker 1: And they published uh or he published his paper, and 167 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: the team published their paper in the Proceedings of the 168 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:51,199 Speaker 1: National Academy of Sciences. And there are a variety of 169 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 1: these studies, and we found them to be extremely interesting 170 00:10:55,880 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: and kind of giving a window into something that I 171 00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: at least had not heard of it being studied before. Yeah, 172 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,839 Speaker 1: and you see Berkeley, which will pop up several times 173 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:12,199 Speaker 1: in this podcast. They had their study on wealth and driving. 174 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: There's a quote here that comes from a writer named 175 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,160 Speaker 1: Benjamin Preston writing for The New York Times. I want 176 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: to be transparent with everybody. I have a huge bias 177 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 1: toward other people named Ben. Go team Ben. If you're 178 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: listening to this podcast and your name is Ben, I'm 179 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:33,960 Speaker 1: high fiving you. Don't the airways, don't. Matt is Man. 180 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:36,440 Speaker 1: We are legion, my friend. There are a lot of 181 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: you guys, more and more every year. I don't know 182 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:42,959 Speaker 1: what's going on with it. But that's another episode asually 183 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:48,359 Speaker 1: from the eighties. So Benjamin Preston writes the following summation 184 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: of this study on wealth and driving In California, where 185 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,120 Speaker 1: the study was conducted, state law requires motorists to stop 186 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,319 Speaker 1: at crosswalks where pedestrians are present, allowing them to cross 187 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: the road. Paul piff said his team selected a specific 188 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 1: crosswalk to observe, then had a pedestrian appear on the 189 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: edge of the curb as a car approached. As the 190 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: pedestrians stepped into the road, a researcher marked down the 191 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: driver's reaction to the pedestrian. This was done with a 192 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty two drivers, and they also wrote down 193 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: things like what type of vehicle was being driven. Um, 194 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,719 Speaker 1: and here's some interesting things that they found. The drivers 195 00:12:26,000 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: driving nicer, more expensive cars, let's say, we're less likely 196 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 1: to obey this particular traffic law. They also found a 197 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:39,599 Speaker 1: specific car was the standout. Right, let's see if you 198 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:45,000 Speaker 1: can guess what it is. Did you say, BMW You're right, Yeah, 199 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 1: apparently you guys, BMW's were the worst in this study. Now, 200 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: of course, this is not a one to one thing. 201 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,080 Speaker 1: There's some important things about this study that we should remember, 202 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: which is that I don't know where you live, ladies 203 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: and gentlemen, but Atlanta is full of people who bought 204 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: cars they can't afford. Oh, yes, you it should be 205 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,680 Speaker 1: known that you can drive a nice car and still 206 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 1: be an awesome human being. You can also drive a 207 00:13:12,600 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: really nice car and have no money for anything else. Yeah, 208 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: or you could be a really really bad driver in 209 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,640 Speaker 1: you know, a nineteen eighties Toyota, Chtersella or something. Totally valid. 210 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: And with that in mind, that was not the only 211 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 1: study that was done. We've got another study here about cheating, 212 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: and Paul piff found that the wealthy were more likely 213 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: to lie in negotiations too. I guess cheat in a game. 214 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 1: And we we talked about this cheating study on our 215 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,439 Speaker 1: video that we just put out where I think it 216 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,319 Speaker 1: was a fifty dollar was it is that the one 217 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: we have a dollar cash prize. Yes, and you have 218 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:00,720 Speaker 1: two people and you try and win the fifty dollars. Yeah. 219 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,719 Speaker 1: And let's say one person is making fifteen thousand or 220 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,720 Speaker 1: less per year an income and another person is making 221 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,439 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty thousand or more. It's a big variation. 222 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: And there's a weird thing that that the study finds. Yeah, 223 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: the people making a hundred and fifty thousand dollars or 224 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: more a year were much more likely to cheat to 225 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: gain to gain this fifty dollar prize um when the 226 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,520 Speaker 1: more uh, the more honest people seem to be the 227 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 1: ones who are making much less money. Now, it's really interesting. 228 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: We talked about it in the video as well, that 229 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: fifty dollars means so very little proportionately to someone making 230 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,720 Speaker 1: a large amount of money every year. Right, Yeah, it's 231 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: a smaller slice of the pie. I mean, it's almost 232 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: almost nothing. But then if you look at someone who 233 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: may be struggling to I mean, if you if you 234 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: make fifteen thousand dollars or less in the United States 235 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: right now, the cost of living in most places is 236 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,520 Speaker 1: going to be so higher than that. Yeah, it's it's 237 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: pretty difficult, and a lot of people, of course, gets 238 00:15:05,080 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: stuck in what's called the poverty doughnut hole where the 239 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: government will actually say that someone makes too much money 240 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: having a job, right or they're they're they're doing just 241 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:24,240 Speaker 1: a little bit too well to get any kind of assistance, 242 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: and it creates, it can create uh, situations where someone says, wow, 243 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: it's it's actually better for me to not have a job, 244 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: which is which is strange in such a Kafka novel, 245 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: Waiting to happen. But the study just to bring it 246 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:44,920 Speaker 1: back to that thing we mentioned earlier, if it's vice versa, 247 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: maybe because it's not important for the person making h 248 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: a year to gain that fifty dollars. But maybe they're 249 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 1: just really really good at convincing someone that that money 250 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 1: should go to them, or maybe their skill set building 251 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 1: towards this correlation. Maybe the skill set, maybe the personality 252 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,040 Speaker 1: traits we're talking about, are some of the pieces necessary 253 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,240 Speaker 1: to acquire an abnormal amount of wealth. Right, be good 254 00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: at playing the game, right, Yeah, that's that's the idea. Oh, 255 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: speaking of games, there's another study that I know you 256 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: would enjoy um this This one is a little bit different. 257 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:27,440 Speaker 1: It's Monopoly, So we all know Monopoly stuff you should 258 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:29,440 Speaker 1: know actually has a great podcast on it if you 259 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 1: haven't checked it out yet. Monopoly used to be called 260 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: the Landlord's Game when it was originally invented, and it 261 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: had a third round, which was this final part of 262 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 1: the game, and it was meant to teach about the 263 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: evils or the dangers of un um unconstrained capitalism. I 264 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: guess go for it. You are now the one. So 265 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: Parker brothers, you know when they when they stole it. 266 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,520 Speaker 1: They took out that ending of the game, right, so 267 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: totally change the message of it. And uh, it has become, 268 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: i don't know, an enjoyable thing, but also a thing 269 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,640 Speaker 1: that destroys families at gatherings. People fight over it for sure. 270 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: Here's the study that some people conducted with playing Monopoly 271 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: based on a coin toss. Uh. So there's a winner 272 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:23,560 Speaker 1: and a loser in the coin toss. Someone would win 273 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 1: the coin toss they call heads its heads whatever. Because 274 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:29,439 Speaker 1: they won the coin toss, they would be given extra 275 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: money and uh allowed to roll two dice. So here's 276 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: the interesting thing. Of course, they you know, they're kicking 277 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: butt all crossed from boardwalk to Atlantic and uh what's 278 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: really fascinating is that these people, when astir rate their performance, 279 00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:56,440 Speaker 1: overwhelmingly said that they won the game because they are 280 00:17:57,359 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: good Monopoly players. So they said, it's not my inherited 281 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:08,679 Speaker 1: or randomly assigned head start I earned. This isn't that crazy, 282 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:11,840 Speaker 1: it's weird. It's and I think it applies to to this. 283 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:16,920 Speaker 1: But there's um another another thing here. This is one 284 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:18,679 Speaker 1: of the ones that you and I have spent a 285 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: lot of time thinking about. And that's the lack of empathy. Yeah, 286 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 1: there are a couple of these studies indicate that the wealthy, 287 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:30,399 Speaker 1: you know, not only might be good at cheating or 288 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,800 Speaker 1: have a you know, have a tendency to tendency um 289 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: and you know, maybe can't drive so well. They also, 290 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: I feel like we're making such a stereotype. I know 291 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: that's exactly what we're doing. But you can't apply to everybody, 292 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,160 Speaker 1: even though I'm totally saying it like it applies to everybody. 293 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: So what this study says, I'm sorry, we'll get back 294 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: to it. So the study said that perhaps the wealthy 295 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:57,879 Speaker 1: experience a a compassion or an empathy that is different 296 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: than a lot of other people. It's there's a lack 297 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: of it almost or a uh much lesser degree. Yeah. 298 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:09,960 Speaker 1: We talked about this one in the video too. So 299 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: there are parts of your brain that are associated with empathy, 300 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: with the experience of putting oneself and someone else's shoe, 301 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 1: you know, seeing somebody in pain and going, oh, that's terrible. 302 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 1: I know what that would be like, I can understand that, right, Yeah, 303 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:32,480 Speaker 1: and thinking of people as a human being pretty much. Uh. 304 00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 1: What they found when they had people watched different videos 305 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: was that the area of the brain associated with empathy 306 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: has less activity in higher income people. That's so weird. 307 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: So they're literally watching this video of kids with cancer 308 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: and people who made a lower income are more likely 309 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: to be empathetic people who are making a higher amount 310 00:19:59,119 --> 00:20:03,479 Speaker 1: of income. It's just it's physically not registering in the 311 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,679 Speaker 1: same way. See. And I was wondering how much of 312 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: that might have to do with the stories that are 313 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 1: told to people of different um wealth factor or different 314 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: wealth levels. Okay, um, I mean if you think about 315 00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: something like iron Rand and the stories that are told there, 316 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:28,560 Speaker 1: then other stories maybe about community and um, people working together. 317 00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: I'm just I wonder how are they Upbringing in a 318 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: household changes the way that your brain then for the 319 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,880 Speaker 1: rest of your life thinks about these interactions. So how 320 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: how does the socio economic framing of thank you for 321 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: putting another like? How It's a great question though, How 322 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,160 Speaker 1: does uh how does somebody's background in their culture influence 323 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:55,520 Speaker 1: their current perception? YEA, what is another human being to you? 324 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,800 Speaker 1: Like just someone walking on the street. What does that 325 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,439 Speaker 1: person represent? Is it someone you know you can have 326 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:04,720 Speaker 1: a conversation with and talk to, maybe work with in 327 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: the future, maybe it's someone that you want to beat 328 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: at monopoly, you know, or are people just objects in 329 00:21:13,080 --> 00:21:17,080 Speaker 1: space to you? Uh so that that that last part 330 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,960 Speaker 1: I started a little bit serial killer issue. Yeah. We 331 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:24,200 Speaker 1: also know that the wealthy were apparently more likely to shoplift. 332 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: There was an interesting study in the United Kingdom that 333 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: indicated shoplifting was growing amid among women, younger women with 334 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: from higher class backgrounds. And we've heard stories of that. 335 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 1: You've seen him in the newspaper. I'm sure wasn't there 336 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,400 Speaker 1: a celebrity and actress in the US who was a shoplifter? 337 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,640 Speaker 1: There were, I think there were a few, but I 338 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:51,480 Speaker 1: can't remember which ones they were. Well right in and 339 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: let us know who's shoplifting. Also, Andrew W. K who 340 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: writes for the New York Times now has a great 341 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,680 Speaker 1: advice column. You and I have been reading this and 342 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,640 Speaker 1: he has a cool article that came out about shoplifting recently. 343 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: So check it out. I have not seen it. You 344 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,239 Speaker 1: don't have to do that. Yeah, it's uh, you know, 345 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: it's a it's a very different approach artistically when you 346 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,960 Speaker 1: compared to his albums. And then there's one more note 347 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,679 Speaker 1: here that kind of doves tails onto the empathy, the 348 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 1: lack of empathy or perceived lack of empathy, which has 349 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: to do with reading other people, and wealthy in general, 350 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:28,600 Speaker 1: from these studies, seem to be less likely to be 351 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,880 Speaker 1: good at reading someone. And we kind of mentioned that earlier, 352 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,679 Speaker 1: but it's just the idea of if you're sitting across 353 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:37,439 Speaker 1: from someone and or if you look at a picture 354 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 1: of someone's face, and I think that's what happened in 355 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:43,199 Speaker 1: the study. It was pictures of humans faces and you 356 00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:45,960 Speaker 1: just decide what emotion they're feeling, if any, and write 357 00:22:46,119 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 1: all that. So it's weird because it sounds like if 358 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: you are cheating or lying, you should be good at 359 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: reading people, but apparently that is not the case. And 360 00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: this brings us to our implications. Implications here are that 361 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:05,959 Speaker 1: money can indeed change a person in some fundamental, physically 362 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,159 Speaker 1: measurable ways, but also these studies are at times a 363 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,880 Speaker 1: bit contradictory. And by the way, we're talking about the brain, 364 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:18,240 Speaker 1: talking about specific physical changes in your brain, and we 365 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:20,439 Speaker 1: we also know, oh this is I know we have 366 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: to go, but this is so interesting. We also know 367 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,199 Speaker 1: that mind over matter exists. If you've listened to our 368 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 1: earlier podcast, I think we have mentioned this before the 369 00:23:29,600 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: nature of the thoughts that you have changed the physical 370 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:38,719 Speaker 1: structure of your brain. It's true that monks who meditate 371 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: have a larger section of the brain associated with compassion. 372 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: And it's true that London cab drivers, way back before 373 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: the days of uber and GPS, London black cab drivers 374 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,680 Speaker 1: had to take this thing called the knowledge and this 375 00:23:55,840 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: test was so rigorous and there there um exercise eyes 376 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: of memory so constant, uh and unending and intricate and 377 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:09,479 Speaker 1: sophisticated that their areas of the brain associated with memory 378 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 1: and spatial aptitude is larger than the average persons. I 379 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: love that there's a physical connection between your thoughts and 380 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:23,240 Speaker 1: your brain. So are wealthy thoughts then changing people's brains. 381 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: That's an interesting question. We don't have the answer, um, 382 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: but we know that this can kind of explain why 383 00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,159 Speaker 1: so many people in power get accused of not caring 384 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: for others. Yeah. Absolutely, And Okay, one more thing you 385 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: want to mention here is Dunbar's number, which is the 386 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: number of relationships that human being can have comfortably uh. 387 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,200 Speaker 1: And it's estimated somewhere between I think a hundred and 388 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,640 Speaker 1: two and or fifty, but usually it just goes right 389 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: to one fifty. Yeah, that's how many people you can 390 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,119 Speaker 1: think of as actual human beings. Uh, this, this idea 391 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: is is interesting. We have some videos on it too. 392 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: It baffles us, especially in the digital world. You know, 393 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,320 Speaker 1: you see somebody with a thousand Facebook friends and you think, 394 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: do you have a thousand Facebook friends? Kevin? Yeah? Absolutely? Uh, 395 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: it's I don't know. To me, that is huge, especially 396 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: if you look at someone who has a million followers 397 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,120 Speaker 1: on Twitter or whatever that kind of thing. How many 398 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: of those people are real human beings to that person? Right? 399 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: And now let's again, let's make sure that when we 400 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: close out here, we don't talk in just stark and 401 00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: black and white terms good and bad, because it may 402 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,960 Speaker 1: be that the poor exhibit more empathy because they generally 403 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: rely on a community. There's an interdependence. It takes a village. 404 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: Exactly is it beneficial for someone with less money to 405 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: elicit the aid or at least the compassion of another 406 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: human being and other people because they need it? Right? 407 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: And does wealth afford you the luxury to of self 408 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:00,680 Speaker 1: consideration and self awareness? There? You know, we have these 409 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 1: kind of debates put so often in um emotionally manipulative 410 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,920 Speaker 1: terms like oh, greed is good and people are out 411 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,640 Speaker 1: to get you, or you know, the wealthy don't care. 412 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: But I don't think either of those are completely true. 413 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: But enough about my opinion. Let us know what you think. Yeah, 414 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: right to us on Facebook we are conspiracy Stuff. You 415 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,080 Speaker 1: can find us on Twitter. We're at conspiracy Stuff, and 416 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: you can go to our website stuff they don't want 417 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 1: you to know? Dot com? Um what else? Ben uh? 418 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: If you would like to send us an email, we 419 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,240 Speaker 1: would love to read it. Our best episodes come from 420 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:41,440 Speaker 1: listeners suggestions, so you can go ahead and right to 421 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,320 Speaker 1: Matt Noel and myself, we are conspiracy and how stuff 422 00:26:45,359 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: works dot com. From more on this topic and other 423 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 1: unexplained and on the visit YouTube dot com slash conspiracy Stuff. 424 00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:59,680 Speaker 1: You can also get in touch on Twitter at the 425 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:01,719 Speaker 1: hand add conspiracy Stuff