Daily Times

A common topic of debate amongst intelligentsia, on electronic and print media and in various gatherings in our country, is the gradual intellectual and moral degeneration of our society. We have seen intellectuals and even the common people discussing a number of reasons for this gradual intellectual and moral decline in our society. However, a recent research study, conducted by two researchers, Jiaying Zhao, a professor in the University of British Columbia and Sandhil Mullainathan, a Harvard economist, is of great importance in this regard. The study reveals the impact poverty imposes on human mental ability and activity.

We often find intellectuals stressing the significance of being resolute and active for the achievement of aims without paying attention to the difficulties we come across on the path of the achievement of our pursuits. Obviously, no one can deny the importance of determination and efforts in the accomplishment of goals, but this pursuit of achievement and its ultimate outcome — an individual’s success — is not a one-way, linear journey to be carried out solely by riding on the horse of determination. It requires some favourable environment and circumstances as well. The recent study by Zhao and Mullainathan points out one of the important factors: freedom from poverty stress as a prerequisite for the accomplishment of one’s aims especially in the present times.

The study has been conducted in America and India. The researchers conducted various experiments with the lower and middle class shoppers in a mall in New Jersey. Similarly, some more experiments were carried out with sugarcane farmers in rural India. The results of the study are very interesting and thought provoking. The study reports that poverty strain hampers the cognitive abilities of individuals, and as a result of that they face partial or complete failure in their life. The results of the study also reveal that individuals suffering from poverty strain are affected by it in various ways such as it reduces confidence, negatively affects IQ, and ultimately leads to deficiency in decision making power on the part of the individual undergoing this poverty strain.

The study is of great importance for all of us, and especially our policy makers. We see that the people in our country are under huge stress. There is a multitude of stress on our brains. We are not only suffering from economic stress; there is a trail of stress in the form of lack of security, energy crisis, a bulk of taxes and utility bills etc. Life and discussions of most people in Pakistan revolve around bad economic conditions, energy crisis and security concerns. We hardly find people talking about intellectual, social, or scientific issues. Under such circumstances, how can we expect intellectual and moral uprightness that is the key to success for an individual, society and a nation at large? If only a few individuals thrive in a society on account of their personal efforts and favourable circumstances they find themselves in, it cannot be attributed as the success of the entire society and nation. Nations thrive when individuals perform up to their strengths, and it is only possible when they are free from all sorts of mental and emotional strains.

The example of welfare states is in front of us. If we observe the developed nations we find one similarity amongst all of them: all are welfare states where people are free from such mental strains as we are suffering from — inflation, energy crisis, poor security conditions and above all, poverty stress. How can an individual focus his total energy and attention to his work when his mind is always deviating and thinking about other disturbing issues?

This constant mental stress is also one of the major reasons of brain drain in Pakistan. We see a large number of professionals and highly skilled people rushing out of Pakistan only on the grounds that they want to save themselves from such a tense environment. This tendency is certainly a very serious concern for our country.

If we apply the results of Zhao and Mullainathan’s study to the prevailing situation in our country, we find that it is very much relevant to our context, and can help us understand the major reasons of intellectual and moral decline currently prevalent all over our society. We find our news channels and newspapers replete with the news of terrorist activities, protests, bank robberies, and clashes amongst people on minor issues that sometimes even end up in murder. Looking into the issue from an analytical perspective we find a common reason for all these problems i.e. poverty strain that leads to heinous frustration, and eventually, blinds the cognitive and thinking abilities of the individual, making him or her become an easy prey to evil temptations.

The same results are found in the above-mentioned study of Zhao and Mullainathan. The researchers observed that the poverty stress badly impaired the cognitive abilities of the individuals suffering, and their abilities returned when they got rid of their poverty stress. Another important aspect that can be related to this study is the socio-cultural theory of Lev Vygotsky, the famous Russian psychologist of the early 20th century. According to Vygotsky, there are two levels of human cognitive ability. One is the zone of actual development, and second is the zone of potential development. The zone of potential development is very important in all creative and learning paradigms, and this zone of potential development gets active and starts functioning efficiently only in the presence of favourable circumstances. Freedom of mind from all sorts of strains is one of the major factors of favourable circumstances.

So the need of the hour is that our ruling elite and policy makers should seriously think about this issue, and try to take those steps that can emancipate the people of Pakistan from poverty strain so that they can best utilise their energies and abilities for their personal as well as the collective growth of the people of Pakistan.

The writer is an assistant professor of English in a university in Pakistan. He can be reached at shahzadaps@hotmail.com