This is hidden brain.
I'm Shankar Vedantam.
We begin today with a tale of a man known as a miser, a man so unmoved by the plight of others that he has become synonymous with greed and selfishness.
His name was Ebenezer Scrooge.
Mister Scrooge, I presume.
Indeed you do, sir.
Scrooge, of course, was a character in Charles Dickens famous story a Christmas carol.
And, yes, I know it's not Christmas, but stay with me a moment.
Come back.
In this 1984 film version of the story, Scrooge refuses to give money to a charity that's helping the poor.
My taxes help to support the public institutions which I have mentioned, and they cost enough.
Those who are badly off must go there.
Many can't go there, and many would rather die.
If they would rather die, perhaps they had better do so and decrease the surplus population.
Scrooge is visited one night by some unwelcome guests who push him to question his outlook.
They're ghosts.
The first two remind him about his past and present, and ask him to embrace the Christmas spirit.
It's to no avail.
Scrooge cares more about his money than his community.
But then he's visited by a third ghost who shows him his future.