I do know that I felt less intelligent when I was more worried about money, as though some fixed cognitive reserve were depleted by worrying about uncertain near-term survival, leaving fewer intellectual resources for long-term planning and development.
Same here. I think the same phenomenon is observable in middle class and below: a person's main concern becomes surviving, leaving less/little time for introspection and learning.
To be clear, I don't deny it's plausible. I deny that the science is convincing. With all due respect, the combination of a few anecdotes and a couple limited studies should not carry much weight.
