IN THE BOOK, The Upside of Irrationality (2010), author Dan Ariely delves into the effect of emotion on economic behavior. One of the subjects he tackles is “adaptation.” Whether in a good situation or a bad one, one gradually adapts to the condition he is in.
Ariely points to his own experience of having undergone a severe and painful hospitalization procedure after suffering burns and broken bones from an accident. In one process, to avoid the amputation of an arm, the doctor required surgical techniques without the benefit of anesthesia as Ariely’s heart condition would not allow the use of drugs. The long procedure was somehow helped by the doctor asking his patient to count slowly from one to 10 to somehow adapt to the pain.
Adaptation also applies even to very pleasurable conditions like sudden wealth or the assumption of an influential position. This process of acceptance and entitlement even has a name for behavioral economists like Dan Ariely. It is called “hedonistic adaptation.” How many times have we heard moguls complain about the boredom of having their own plane to ferry them everywhere or staying in a mansion where the voices echo in the emptiness? (Even the heated pool can lose its charm.)
Ariely suggests a way of prolonging the pleasure and avoiding early adaptation. If one is soaking in a hot spring pool with a significant other with nothing on but a smile, the pleasure can be prolonged if interrupted. (Let me get a nice cold glass of champagne first.) The resumption of the pleasure restarts the adaptation process.
The classic anecdote of the “boiling frog” is an example of adaptation leading to danger. The frog is dropped into a pot of room-temperature water. The heat is turned up gradually in stages, as the frog adapts continuously. It does not realize at some point that it is being boiled alive.
Our own culture is quite adaptive. There is a readiness to adapt to even the most difficult situations like bad traffic, heat waves, and oratorical excesses among celebrity lawmakers. Is our cultural adaptation and acceptance a barrier to change?
For change to be considered there must be deep dissatisfaction with, and raging anger at, the current situation. This state of dissatisfaction goes against the grain of an adaptive culture that can accept chaos as a given. Reformers are unhappy and discontented, making them socially irritating to those who can adapt.
The ability to adapt and blend in is essential to Filipinos living and working overseas. There is readiness and even yearning to be accepted by adapting to the local culture, with its unwritten rules.
Integration into the local milieu involves acquiring the right accent and imbibing the formulaic responses to greetings and small talk with strangers. (How are you feeling today? I’m good.) Beyond this verbal skill lies the adoption of the local work ethic, attire, traffic rules, transactional proficiency for shopping and banking, as well as celebrating local holidays.
The Filipino abroad is a cultural chameleon that can effortlessly chuck his past baggage and take on such cultural habits like football madness with the intricacies of that game and fan behavior, or Thanksgiving dinners and their required menus and home decor.
As a reptile, the chameleon conceals itself against his background by taking on the color of its surroundings and blending into these as a defense mechanism. This same ability to adapt to the new habitat comes naturally to us as a people. We would rather not disagree even with disagreeable people to avoid confrontation and making a scene and attracting unwanted attention.
The reason Filipinos do well enough abroad to send billions of dollars back home is not just self-selection which favors the adventurous and hardworking. It is also their talent to absorb the culture they find as they take pains to belong to their acquired community or organization.
While this extraordinary ability to adapt to anything sharpens our survival instincts, it also makes us uncomfortable with reformers and crusaders who want to upend the buffet table.
Wanting to adapt and be just part of the scenery invites an almost pathetic need to belong and stay the course. Like the boiling frog, it is not clear when the best time is to jump out of the pot… while there’s still time.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
