Sacrificing your fortune for the misfortune of others
I recently came across this phenomenon the other day in Jakarta.
You see, because of the haze that has been getting worse and worse in Jakarta, I now keep it a point to close the doors as much as possible to avoid the bad air getting into the apartment and sticking up the place. Of course, this goes against my maid's daily tradition of opening the doors to allow the 'fresh air' in every morning. She would do this even if the haze was so bad to the point that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face; perhaps it is something superstitious instead rather than a practical reason. My driver seems to love to scroll down the windows and let the air pollution from car fumes enter the car in the morning. I'm sure many expatriates experience their Indonesian employees doing similar things of letting the air in in the morning. However I digress.
Anyway because of being unable to open the door, often it get's very hot in the house and often the outside is colder. However because I don't want to do this for safety reasons, I turn on the air condition instead; I like to think that one can't put a price on health (unfortunately this is not the case, with many are forced to go out to the air polluted streets to generate income to earn a living.) As much as I like to maintain a good image to my fellow readers, I must admit that I am often lazy despite exercising a lot and stubborn (something that I have inherited from the male side of the family, although they would be too stubborn to admit it themselves). So when it get's too hot for me and my brother to bear, I often make my brother turn on the air conditioning system instead. Whenever he says no, my stubbornness kicks in and I refuse to turn it on as well, despite both of us wanting it on. So with both of us refusing to turn on the air conditioning for each other, fueled by our pride and resentment of the other for not satisfying their individual needs, we just sit there suffering from the heat instead.
Similar instances has happened over the past with the youngest brother of mine and it makes me wonder if this is not only exclusive to me and my brother but to other people as well. I recall my economics teacher addressing the issue out of syllabus similar to what I do when I digress on my blog posts. It turns out that a behavioural economics test where person A was made to make person B angry beyond belief but to the point that he or she would still be able to maintain composure. After some time, they were both given the same amount of money. They were then given an ultimatum: would you rather increase your personal pay by $10 or decrease your pay by $5 but have the same effect on your 'enemy'? It turns out that many picked the latter. This only goes to show how much we as humans crave revenge or have an inbuilt sense of justice that we feel the need to fulfill on our own. This could explain why we often have the need to see justice/acts of revenge with our own eyes to the people who have insulted us, however irrational it may be. Rationally it will be better to increase your own pay; you will never see the other person again anyway. So why are we so irrational when deciding to carry out revenge? I suppose it's something that many organisms have, especially where there is often a deep and complex social system underlying their every day life, like primates for example.
Fruit for thought
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
You see, because of the haze that has been getting worse and worse in Jakarta, I now keep it a point to close the doors as much as possible to avoid the bad air getting into the apartment and sticking up the place. Of course, this goes against my maid's daily tradition of opening the doors to allow the 'fresh air' in every morning. She would do this even if the haze was so bad to the point that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face; perhaps it is something superstitious instead rather than a practical reason. My driver seems to love to scroll down the windows and let the air pollution from car fumes enter the car in the morning. I'm sure many expatriates experience their Indonesian employees doing similar things of letting the air in in the morning. However I digress.
Anyway because of being unable to open the door, often it get's very hot in the house and often the outside is colder. However because I don't want to do this for safety reasons, I turn on the air condition instead; I like to think that one can't put a price on health (unfortunately this is not the case, with many are forced to go out to the air polluted streets to generate income to earn a living.) As much as I like to maintain a good image to my fellow readers, I must admit that I am often lazy despite exercising a lot and stubborn (something that I have inherited from the male side of the family, although they would be too stubborn to admit it themselves). So when it get's too hot for me and my brother to bear, I often make my brother turn on the air conditioning system instead. Whenever he says no, my stubbornness kicks in and I refuse to turn it on as well, despite both of us wanting it on. So with both of us refusing to turn on the air conditioning for each other, fueled by our pride and resentment of the other for not satisfying their individual needs, we just sit there suffering from the heat instead.
Similar instances has happened over the past with the youngest brother of mine and it makes me wonder if this is not only exclusive to me and my brother but to other people as well. I recall my economics teacher addressing the issue out of syllabus similar to what I do when I digress on my blog posts. It turns out that a behavioural economics test where person A was made to make person B angry beyond belief but to the point that he or she would still be able to maintain composure. After some time, they were both given the same amount of money. They were then given an ultimatum: would you rather increase your personal pay by $10 or decrease your pay by $5 but have the same effect on your 'enemy'? It turns out that many picked the latter. This only goes to show how much we as humans crave revenge or have an inbuilt sense of justice that we feel the need to fulfill on our own. This could explain why we often have the need to see justice/acts of revenge with our own eyes to the people who have insulted us, however irrational it may be. Rationally it will be better to increase your own pay; you will never see the other person again anyway. So why are we so irrational when deciding to carry out revenge? I suppose it's something that many organisms have, especially where there is often a deep and complex social system underlying their every day life, like primates for example.
Fruit for thought
Cheers,
Matthew Tan
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