Self-Interest

Piff goes on to talk about many more studies they conducted in which the "wealthy" participants behaved in a more self-interested way than the "poor" participants. Why do you think people behaved this way?

1. As a person's levels of wealth increase, their feelings of compassion and empathy go down, and their feelings of entitlement and their ideology of self-interest increases. 1a. Hence, the reason that the "Wealthy" participants became rude as they process their success to believe to be that they "worked hard for it" 2. Piff's survey founded that that it's actually wealthier individuals who are more likely to moralize greed being good, and that the pursuit of self-interest is favorable and moral

What are aspects involved in The Invisible Hand?

1. Competition - Forces efficiency 2. Commerce - Produces tolerance and social order 3. Self Interest - Each person working in his/her own interest ends up increasing the general wealth

Piff begins his TED talk by talking about a study in which they rigged a game of Monopoly. How does this study represent American society?

In American Society, there are people start with privileges as well as even use their given wealth and resources to focus on succeeding while there are people that don't have those privileges that start out of having disadvantages. When living out the life in the market, people with privileges are able to make more money than the people that have disadvantages because their advantages allow them to succeed better than those starting out already struggling.

Define The Invisible Hand:

Invisible hand: A force that keeps the individual working towards the greater good of the economy, not to help the economy, but to help him/herself.

According to Paul Piff, what can be done to encourage people to be more empathetic and less selfish?

Piff's laboratory research finds that small psychological interventions (1), small changes to people's values (2), and small nudges in certain directions (3), can restore levels of egalitarianism and empathy

Why is income inequality "something we should all be concerned about?"

Reason to be concern: Individuals and groups with lots of economic inequality do worse where possibly could everyone do so too As the economic inequality gets worse, these get undermined

Define Self-Interest:

Self interest: Each person pursues (follows) a specific economic activity which will improve his or her own life.