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Shailene's Hair, Unfair Monopoly, and the Just World Fallacy

2013-08-13 · John · watch on YouTube · Economics · reflection essay

John argues from rigged-Monopoly experiments that the just world fallacy makes the advantaged feel deserving and that power wields people; he wants Nerdfighteria to resist that pull, and backs Shailene Woodley's hair donation to Children With Hair Loss.

What is said

00:00:00 — Berkeley's rigged Monopoly experiments, rich people's lower empathy, the just world fallacy; it applies to all of us (cars)

  • ★★★ John reports that Berkeley psychologists ran rigged Monopoly games in which advantaged players came to see the game as fairer than it was and to feel they deserved their advantages. — 00:00:03
  • ★★ John says many studies show rich and/or successful people tend to be the least empathetic and least generous. — 00:00:30
  • ★★★ John says this is the just world fallacy: most people believe, and cannot help believing, that people get what they deserve in life. — 00:00:41
  • ★★ John: the fallacy makes rich or successful people less empathetic and generous, since they think they deserve success and the less successful deserve their lack of it. — 00:00:49
  • ★★ John says the fallacy applies to all of us, not just Wall Street bankers: most people watching feel entitled to own or regularly ride in cars. — 00:01:02
  • ★★ John says that if all seven billion people on Earth related to cars as he does, the planet would be 'totally screwed' ecologically. — 00:01:12
  • ★★★ John calls the most troubling finding that people behave much the same in the rigged Monopoly games no matter who is given the advantage. — 00:01:22

00:01:30 — Power is wielding people: Lupe Fiasco's question, new leaders, playgrounds

  • ★★★ John concludes that on some level people aren't wielding power; power is wielding people. (hedged) — 00:01:30 > «Power is wielding people.»
  • ★ John says he has been thinking about this since Lupe Fiasco tweeted about it; he often disagrees with Lupe but finds the questions interesting and provocative. — 00:01:36
  • ★★ Lupe Fiasco, in a tweet John reads, asks whether people who harness power can only do so in the tradition of those before them, yielding the same results. — 00:01:40
  • ★★ John compares this to the disappointment when a newly elected leader brings only measured change, and suggests it may hold on middle-school playgrounds too. (hedged) — 00:01:53
  • ★★★ John: the Monopoly experiments imply individuals may be just vehicles through which power is wielded, so even very powerful people are not that powerful. (hedged) — 00:02:04

00:02:17 — Resisting the urge to power in his own life and in Nerdfighteria; more transparency

  • ★★★ John is concerned about this in his own life and wants Nerdfighteria to be an active, effective force against world suck, not just another community aiming to grow big and powerful. — 00:02:17 · Nerdfighteria, world suck
  • ★★ John says it is really hard, personally and communally, to resist the urge toward power. — 00:02:32
  • ★★ John says the brothers will try to make things even more transparent so Nerdfighteria can hold them accountable and they can decrease world suck effectively together. (hedged) — 00:02:37 · Nerdfighteria, world suck

00:02:45 — Shailene Woodley as Hazel; her hair donation to Children With Hair Loss; John's donation and invitation to donate hair

  • ★★ John says Shailene Woodley, who will play Hazel in the Fault in Our Stars movie, is a rare soul who stays weird, empathetic and wonderful despite success. — 00:02:49 · The Fault in Our Stars (film), Hazel Grace Lancaster
  • ★ John says the media often call Shailene a hippie mostly because she cares about ethical eating and minimizing her footprint, as does Hazel Grace Lancaster. — 00:02:57 · Hazel Grace Lancaster
  • ★★★ John says Shailene must cut her hair to play Hazel Grace and will donate it to Children With Hair Loss, which gives free wigs to kids who lost hair through illness or burns. — 00:03:05 · Hazel Grace Lancaster
  • ★★ John says he will donate some money to Children With Hair Loss so they can make the wigs, since he does not have enough hair to give. — 00:03:17
  • ★★★ John invites others to join Shailene in donating hair to Children With Hair Loss; at least eight inches are needed, with more information in the description. (hedged) — 00:03:25

00:03:31 — Summary: beware the unfair Monopoly trap; remember the world isn't just; sign-off

  • ★★★ John hopes viewers can recognise and avoid the 'unfair Monopoly trap' and remember the world isn't just, because only then can they change it. (hedged) — 00:03:31 > «the unfair Monopoly trap»

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