Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Exposure to luxury can alter decision making

Exposure to luxury can alter decision making:
The mere exposure to luxury goods can have a corrosive effect on decision-making that pushes individuals to put their interests over the interests of others [individual interest at the expense of others' over mutual self-interest], according to a Harvard Business School study. ...

The students who viewed luxury goods were significantly more likely than the second group to endorse production of a new car that might pollute the environment, launch a new software with bugs, or market a video game that might induce violence, according to the study.

We can therefore plausibly expect people who enjoy actual luxury to have even less concern about the well-being of others. As octogalore puts it: "[T]he fact that things are this way is horribly, despicably unfair. And maybe so. But that’s how reality works..." God forbid we should actually take responsibility for correcting unfairness (unless that unfairness affects us personally).

I've got mine, Jack, go fuck yourself.

3 comments:

  1. Ah yes, the "reality" pushers. It's just reality that my son born in the US expects a life a thousand times better than a child born in Haiti. It is, um, written. An ungovernable rule of the universe, like gravity. Conveniently not to be argued against. Reality! they cry.

    I never underestimate the power of wanting nice stuff. It is fucking heroin, wanting nice stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So does this mean I'm gonna have to trade in my fucking Bentley when I'm your Commissar of Science?

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  3. Dude, if you have a fucking Bentley, you're not going to survive to become Commissar of Science. And if you don't fucking give me a ride, I'll do the job myself.

    ReplyDelete

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