The psychology of greed ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Greed - the desire to accumulate ‘stuff’ for yourself. Neil and Beth discuss this and teach you some useful vocabulary. 👇👇👇

❓❓❓ This week's question: Which one of history’s greatest leaders said this quote? 'The world has enough for everyone's need, but not everyone's greed'.

a) The Dalai Lama
b) Mahatma Gandhi
c) Martin Luther King

[Cover: Getty Images]

You can download audio and a free programme transcript here 👉

Vocabulary:
✔️stuff - (informal) material objects and possessions
✔️take credit (for something) - accept praise and recognition given for doing something good, whether or not you deserve it
✔️the flip of a coin - something based on luck or random chance, such as when flipping a coin into the air to see whether it lands heads-side or tails-side up
✔️pull yourself up by your bootstraps - improve your situation through your own efforts, without help from anyone else
✔️well-off - rich enough to be able to have most of what you want
✔️empathy - ability to experience someone else’s feelings by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation

More 6 Minute English episodes:

We like receiving and reading your comments - please use English when you comment 😊

#learnenglish #bbclearningenglish #greed

[natalijapavlova]

I wasn’t born in a wealthy family and so I am not familiar with greed. We’re used to sharing all our stuff with each other. Our parents have taught us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps not by taking a credit or flipping a coin. Now I am not a well off person but l’ve got all stuff for a happy and self-sufficient life!

[trangdieu.c]

VOCABULARY FROM VIDEO “The psychology of greed ⏲ 6 Minute English”
1. Greedy: having or showing a selfish desire to have more of something (such as money or food) :having greed
2. Unconscious: not awake especially because of an injury, drug, etc.
3. Inevitably: certain to happen and unable to be avoided or prevented
4. Privilege: [count] :a right or benefit that is given to some people and not to others
5. Stuff : (informal) material objects and possessions
6. Take credit (for something) : accept praise and recognition given for doing something good, whether or not you deserve it
7. The flip of a coin : something based on luck or random chance, such as when flipping a coin into the air to see whether it lands heads-side or tails-side up
8. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps : improve your situation through your own efforts, without help from anyone else
9. Well-off : rich enough to be able to have most of what you want
10. Empathy : ability to experience someone else’s feelings by imagining what it would be like to be in their situation.

19/01/2024 VIETNAM
ALL THE BEST FOR YOU ^^

[NoSurnameNoCasteNoReservation]

#HumanRights The BBC Learning English is doing great job . I think greed is going to grasp this world very soon . Because greed has already taken an important place in this materialistic world . And greed has become a COMPETITION in this age of internet and social media . Thanks a lot !

[baharehgolpour]

We were working on a project. One of our team members was so lazy. He never contributed or lifted a finger. When it was over, he told our team leader that he had done all the work and he took all the credit.

[lilianatria]

I believe that, without exaggerating, greed can be functional for our life. The desire of own many expensive stuffs permits us to improve continuously our performance and raise the bar. Certainly, if we exaggerate the risk is that losing our emphaty and getting away from other people

[linhle-wvwu]

In general, we all work for money and try to find the best way to accumulate as much money as possible, making greed inevitable. Opportunities are rare; if we don't seize them, we might regret it later. Notwithstanding, greed is two-sided; it's crucial to know how to handle it wisely. Greed can be beneficial if it helps us achieve a better life and fulfill our goals; on the other hand, if our greed harms others, it's unacceptable and leads to serious consequences, like ending up in jail. In the end, whether greed is good or not depends on us.

[vaddesreehari]

Showing empathy is the most precious. At the same time, heping is just a thing to help someone who are in danger or having a problem. Greedy help or being gold digger is to be spoiled in.

[AliakbarAbduhamid]

BBC learning english club more effected improving my english world. Greed is our enemy. In uzbek people hate greed. Because it reached to decrease. This emotion of uzbeks.

[Timmye-ds]

N: I'm writing my birthday wishlist, Beth. Listen, I want a new laptop, a gold Rolex watch and a red sports car.
B: Phew, that is quite a lot, Neil. Isn't that a bit greedy?
N: So what? Greed is good. We're genetically built to want things that increase our social status, power, and material possessions like money, a nice house, a fast car, or that stuff.
B: Hmm, I'm not sure, Neil. Remember, greed is also one of the seven deadly sins.
N: In this program, We'll discover greed - the desire to accumulate stuff, keep it for yourself, and not share it with others. And of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But first, I have a question for you Beth. You reminded me of a famous quote by one of the history's greatest leaders: "The world has enough for everyone's need, but not everyone's greed." But who said it? -> Guess: Mahatma Gandhi
N: At the neurological level, greed is control by the reward center of the brain. Greedy people feel good when they choose the stuff they want. And this happens at the unconscious emotional level of the brain, meaning there's little conscious awareness about how greedy actions might affect others or be unfair.
B: But what does this look like in real life? -> That's what psychologist, Prof. Paul Piff investigated using the classic family boardgame, Monopoly. The game was *ricked* -> "rigged" to give one rich player an advantage by letting them roll two dices instead of one and collecting twice as much money as the poor player when passing Go.
N: So what happened when Prof.Piff asked the rich player why they had inevitably won the fixed game. Listen to the answer he gave to BBC 4 Programme: Seven deadly psychologies.
Prof. Piff: They took credit for their wins. They talked about how they controlled their own outcomes, they talked about how it was the decision they made that have led to their being ultimately victorious, and not that flip of a coin that randomly got them into that position of privilege in the first place. Now I don't know if this is a perfect model for how privilege, success, or wealth operates in everyday life. Some people indeed, have worked themselves up by the bootstraps and get what they have because they work hard.
B: Interestingly, the rich player took credit for winning. If you take credit for something, you accept praise and recognition for doing something. Whether or not that praise and recognition is deserved.
N: In fact, it was the fixed game which determined who would win and lose, not anything the players did. Prof.Piff uses the expression "the flip of a coin" which describes something based solely on random chance, like when you flip a coin into the air, whether it lands on head or tail, it's pure luck.
B: The winning players claim they won thanks to their own skill and ability. Here, Prof.Piff uses another idiom - to pull yourself up by your bootstraps - meaning to improve your situation through your own hard work, without help from anyone else.
N: Worryingly, the experiment shows how feeling financially better off than others can easily changed into feeling better than others. And the reason behind these feelings could be what money buys you, esp. one thing, space.
B: If you're rich, you're in a big house. At work, you have your own spacious office. You live in your own private bubble.
Prof. Piff: People who are well-off are just more socially independent. They don't need others in their lives as much. And we don't need others. Well, your empathy might suffer as a result.
N: People who are well-off and rich enough to do what they want rely on other people less. As a result, they might lack empathy, the ability to share someone else's feelings by imagining what it would be like to be them.
B: Maybe it's not greed itself that's bad, but the things we're greedy for. Being greedy for social justice, or a clean environment is good, right, something to be admired by the world leader in your questions, Neil.

[Viethuynh]

Another excellent job Beth and Neil. Love BBCLE crew

[BriantheBrick]

Well off people often have a lot of stuff and are more independent. However, their empathy might suffer because they lack social relations. People not born into wealthy families can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, not by flipping a coin or taking credit for something then didn't do, and become rich enough to have a good and happy life.

[sabahmomini]

This has been a legacy for me from my father .He acheived everything by his efforts not by taking credit for sth he didn't deserve that. I have the same condition. But i haven’t had the chance to achieve anything with the flip of the coin .therefore i have pulled up myself by my own bootstrap. Not by chance .

[Marillia]

All of your videos are such an important lesson that we should have been taught at school❤

[kashifzia]

Your videos are always useful and I liked the moon video it is so interesting.

[muhammadazkan]

Thanks for your podcast. You are give good information for everyone

[cynthiareid]

Thanks, BBC for showing different topics and explaining in detail regarding vocabulary related to them BTW sometimes is tough to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps in a world where it demands rapid results and taking credit or giving them props

[lera]

Thank you a lot for the enlightening dialogue and new phrases.

[skillsthrillschills]

1. Flip of a coin
2. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps
3. Well off
4. Empathy

[praveenpiyasena]

❤
For me to learn English better is to practice it with a friend.

[baharehgolpour]

I started from scratch. I was so broke. With time, I managed to pull myself up by my bootstraps, though. No one helped me.