This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

Doing better than your parents, having a better education,

living a better life, this is universally seen as a good thing.

But a century ago, a poet named Christo Smirnanski

wrote a parable that raises important questions about the nature of upward mobility.

The tale of the stairs is about an impoverished young man

standing at the foot of a marble staircase.

He's gazing up at the wealthy people above him.

He's got a choir enjoying themselves and having drinks while the people down below

don't have enough food to eat and are really suffering.

This is philosopher Jennifer Morton.

Blocking the young man's ascent to the party above

is the devil himself.

The devil asks him if he wants to get closer to the top.

There's just one catch. The devil wants a bribe.

The young man protests.

I am poor, a youth and rags, he says.

But I'm willing to give up my life.

The devil says he doesn't want the young man's life.

He wants to replace his hearing with a new pair of ears.

The young man agrees.

And so, the devil lets him walk up a few steps.

...