This is NOT a first-world problem

Most of you know that the issue of privilege is a pretty big deal to me. I came pretty late to the party on the issue, and only started to learn the nuanced details via some of the smart commenters on ontd_political. Yesterday, mckitterick sent me the link to a study done by someone at KU that perfectly shows a staggering amount of privileged thought in academia and developed nations.

Link between emotions, physical health universal, researcher says Much research has demonstrated a link between individuals’ emotional and physical health. For example, depression and stress have been tied to self-reports of increased pain, fatigue and disease, whereas positive emotions have been tied to decreases in those ailments.

There is, however, a caveat. Nearly all of this research is limited to industrialized nations – places where individuals’ basic needs like food and shelter are typically met. This has left unanswered the question of whether the emotions-health link also exists in undeveloped nations.

Absent research from these poorer countries, many observers have speculated that the emotions-health link isn’t universal across the world, theorizing that emotions are a “luxury” that only first-world inhabitants can afford to focus on because their more basic needs are being met.

So there was a significant number of people who thought the citizens of underdeveloped nations were less susceptible to health risks due to negative emotions just because they were poor? WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK. Do we need better proof of the fact that poor people, not to mention poor non-white people are seen as less-than-human compared to those of us who are well-off, white, and with disposable incomes? I guess the fact that Mr. Lopez got the funds to devote an entire study to this phenomenon is my answer to that question.

I've had several conversations with mckitterick lately about prejudice, bigotry, and hatred, and how I believe those are all based on fear of people who are different. This story is a perfect example of how far humans will take our ignorance and distrust of the other--going so far as to think it's possible that humans who have a different standard of living are less affected by emotions. They are, effectively, seen as less-than-human.

Although I know it shouldn't, because staggeringly stupid research projects get funded every day, it baffles me that we needed a study about this. I suppose we need studies to prove truths. What I'd like to see, though, is a study that examines why human beings are so prone to lazy thinking and willful ignorance. That's some research I'd be interested in hearing.