How do I increase my powers of reasoning?

October 20, 2006 8:26 AM

I've read a study that suggests individuals who live in perpetual poverty have impaired reasoning capabilities. Assuming this is true, how can I learn to reason better? What ways can I improve my ability to accurately assess situations and troubleshoot problems?
posted by dropkick to grab bag (22 comments total)

Do you have a link or any more information about the study?
posted by catburger at 8:30 AM on October 20, 2006

I ask that because I think it would be difficult to answer your question without more information. Unless we were to ignore the link to poverty and just make it a "how can I improve my ability to reason?" question.
posted by catburger at 8:31 AM on October 20, 2006

It might be helpful for you to link to or cite the study. There are different kinds of reasoning capabilities, so it would be useful to know what sort of deficits the individuals in the study had.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:32 AM on October 20, 2006

To be honest with you, I can't remember where I read it. It doesn't matter, I just brought it up to add context to the question.

Sorry.
posted by dropkick at 8:40 AM on October 20, 2006

One thing I can think of is that poor individuals will tend to think in terms of what they need in the short term instead of the long term, because their priority is getting through the day-to-day. So long term goals, such as education or anything requiring a significant investment of time or money would come far behind paying the bills, paying rent, getting enough food.
posted by catburger at 8:50 AM on October 20, 2006

I'd rather not think strictly in economic terms. Maybe the question should be: how does a successful person assess situations, solve problems and overcome personal barriers? How is it some thinking leads to actions and results, while other thinking is recursive and unproductive?
posted by dropkick at 8:57 AM on October 20, 2006

Do you live in perpetual poverty? Did the study say that all individuals who live in perpetual poverty have impaired reasoning capabilities? Or was it (just) a correlation? If it was just a correlation, on what basis do you state (or not) that you have impaired reasoning capabilities?
posted by altolinguistic at 8:57 AM on October 20, 2006

To be honest with you, I can't remember where I read it.

OMG!! It's already got you in its grip!

It's not the poverty itself, it's all the psychological baggage that goes with it: constant guilt, self-hatred, and anxiety; prolonged physical discomfort from living conditions or lack of access to medical care; likelihood of developing substance-abuse problems; likelihood of lack of education; likelihood of menial or repetitive work requiring no reasoning skills; lack of time to devote to reading or learning; I could go on and on.

Sure, not all poor people deal with all of these, but you can see how in a study about them these issues would come up over and over again. That the mental faculties of an individual dealing with these issues over time is bound to degrade should surprise no one.

As far as what can be done about it, I think it is all about perspective. To not be ruled by one's setbacks is diffficult, but some can do this and be more alert, happy, and wise than anyone you've ever met. But most people feel they must wait for a break in the clouds to bask in the sunlight of living, and the poorer you are, the less likely that break will ever come.
posted by hermitosis at 9:01 AM on October 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

dropkick, there was some reference to this sort of thing in Nickel & Dimed. I no longer have the book, but recall the author writing of this. Might that be where you read about it?
posted by FlamingBore at 9:09 AM on October 20, 2006

I had an IQ test when I was 12 or 13. My score was average I guess, but I come from a family of very 'smart' (high IQ, which I recognize is a very limited way to see smartness) people, so I felt like a loser.

I went on a reading campaign. I read constantly. I read from as many genres as I can. I read lots of nonfiction. I try to read things that contradict each other or come from very different perspectives.

I also try to create situations for myself that challenge how I saw or did something in the past. This has helped me to think critically and also to be a braver person.

Also, I eat really well. Your brain doesn't work if you're not well nourished. Fish oil/Omega oils are specifically benificial to the brain, but good, balanced nutrition (fruits and veggies and enough calories) is probably most important.

---

On a side note, when I was pregnant, I felt that my ability to reason went to shit. My choices were based more on emotions, I couldn't remember anything very well, and my critical thinking skills went out the window. After I had the baby, things didn't improve. In fact, I think that 4 years of sleep deprevation has only made the matter worse. Now I have to make an effort to think carefully before I talk or act. And still I find myself failing to think of obvious points.
posted by serazin at 9:24 AM on October 20, 2006

I remember hearing something very similar about "diminished reasoning capacity" with regards to poverty. The main argument, as I recall, was that poor diet and lack of mentally engaging activities were the most like culprits. There was a previous thread here a couple of days ago about the alcohol haze impairing reasoning for a significant period of time after sobering up. So... eat better, play chess, and avoid substances?
posted by bastionofsanity at 9:24 AM on October 20, 2006

Well, the first lesson of thinking criticially is to question the assumption. When a "revealing" study is released and filtered by the press its often misunderstood. Its simplified and stupified. Especially in regards to cause vs correlation.


There are some obvious things to do like do puzzles, take a class in logic, understand logical fallacies, etc. If those seem dry and boring (and frankly they are) you can do something like what this guy recommends. I'd post it in thread but the linebreaks are all crazy. Enjoy your new brain!

My personal experience is that being clever (or whatever you want to call it) is just like a muscle and you need to exercise it or it will go away. When I had more menial-type work I felt like an idiot until I made an effort to usually keep myself mentally engaged and challenged by new ideas.
posted by damn dirty ape at 10:05 AM on October 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

Two suggestions: learn about logical fallacies and do lateral thinking games/puzzles with friends. The former should make your thinking more rigorous, and the latter should make it more creative.

In terms of assessing situations, reading Blink might help, if only to get you to trust your gut feelings. In terms of troubleshooting problems, if you're only speaking about 'problems' in general, then I'd concentrate on my first two suggestions. If there's a specific domain you're thinking of, I'd try googling for problem solving methodologies/ frameworks (for example, years ago, PC Format magazine published a PC troubleshooting flowchart that I found pretty useful at the time). Finally, when I want to learn about a new concept, I usually hit wikipedia as a quick introduction first.
posted by kimota at 10:19 AM on October 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

How is it some thinking leads to actions and results, while other thinking is recursive and unproductive?

I wonder if you are talking about cognitive distortions such as magnification and minimisation, overgeneralisation, emotional reasoning, etc., which are associated with depression. Try reading David Burns's book on overcoming depression, Feeling Good, which provides the readers with practical techniques to counteract their flawed thinking. This may help you to "accurately assess situations and troubleshoot problems" and his techniques are certainly intended to move the reader towards action and positive results.

It would not surprise me to learn there was a link between depression and long-term poverty either. So if I read a study linking reasoning capabilities to poverty, the first question I'd want answered is how the researchers controlled for conditions like depression (and obsessive compulsive disorders, come to think of it.)
posted by Pigpen at 11:01 AM on October 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

And I guess for the record I should say that the idea that poor people can't think as well as rich people strikes me as total balogna.
posted by serazin at 12:19 PM on October 20, 2006

I've read a study that suggests individuals who live in perpetual poverty have impaired reasoning capabilities.

I bet you didn't. I bet you read a study that suggested that the average reasoning capability of groups of individuals living in perpetual poverty was impaired compared to the average reasoning capability of groups of individuals not living in perpetual poverty.

The difference is important.
posted by ikkyu2 at 12:43 PM on October 20, 2006

I think poor nutrition and similar borderline health problems could account for some of it, as a couple of people have already posted. Putting someone on a low-protein diet is a classic brainwashing technique, for example.

My gut reaction was that Blink is a load of BS, FWIW.
posted by hattifattener at 1:31 PM on October 20, 2006

To reiterate, I can't recall the source where I learned of this study but I'm looking.

Awesome answers people. Thank you, and I invite more answers and observations.
posted by dropkick at 4:31 PM on October 20, 2006

I don't really understand the question - are you asking if you would be smarter if you were richer? Why would you assume that anything you state in your post is true, without any evidence?
posted by goo at 5:37 PM on October 20, 2006

goo: Re-read my question. I asked you to "assume" the study was true and correct, and to offer ideas and methodologies on how to reason better. The study itself is tertiary, if relevant at all. It's an example, and although I know I've read it somewhere, it's not essential for this discussion.
posted by dropkick at 7:32 PM on October 20, 2006

Plants and time in "nature." A study you can download from here suggests that poverty and related hassles exhausts one's ability to concentrate, which makes it harder to plan ahead and cope with life's difficulties.* These authors (who have done a lot of research on this) label this decreased ability to concentrate "attentional fatigue." Grass and trees outside people's apartment building helps restore their ability to concentrate.

Lots of other research, much cited in this article, also find that contact with "nature" helps restore people's emotional and mental functioning. Whether biophysical stress or cognitive "attentional fatigue," exposure to plants or nature helps. These tightly-controlled studies consider various types of "nature" -- greenery out the window, a walk in the park... One (Tenneson & Cimprich 91?) even finds that a backpacking trip improves people's ability to proofread and keeps it higher for a month or so into the future.

On second thought, it might be slightly different. I think the authors may say that life generally depletes people's ability to concentrate, that they would guess that people in poverty have a harder time, and that having that ability is key to coping with poverty. In any case, if the article doesn't help, hopefully it cites something else useful.
posted by salvia at 12:05 AM on October 21, 2006

Oops -- if you didn't figure it out -- the * in the first paragraph was supposed to refer you to the small text at the bottom.
posted by salvia at 12:06 AM on October 21, 2006