Habituation

 

It must be about 40 years ago that I read a short story by Nadine Gordimer in which a toddler gets trapped in the razor wire surrounding his parents’ upmarket Johannesburg home. I think she wrote it to illustrate how the white middle class was having to fortify their homes and defend themselves against increasing hostility from the oppressed black masses. At the time, I mistakenly thought that this trend would not spread to Cape Town and the Western Cape. I also assumed that once Apartheid was eliminated and democracy was extended to all, there would be far less reason for whites to fear attack, and we would be able to live in harmony with the non-White population. Gordimer probably shared this hope, and must have died a disillusioned woman in 2014.

On our recent visit to Joburg, we stayed with Guy and Jen in Linden, which is a middle class Northern suburb. We were able to take a walk in the neighbourhood on most of the ten days we were there, and gained an impression of the lifestyle experienced by those who can afford to live in the area. For a start, we found the tree-lined streets pedestrian unfriendly. Neither of the terms ‘pavement’ nor ‘sidewalk’ is applicable, for there is very little paving, and for most of the time there is nowhere to walk apart from in the road. It is clearly not an issue for residents, who do not seem to venture beyond their driveways unless in the safety of a vehicle, and the only people we encountered were domestic servants and gardeners.

It became apparent that entire suburbs are under siege. Every house lies behind a 3-metre high wall or fence topped with at least five strands of electrified wire. We marvelled at the extent to which homeowners have gone in order to prevent criminals from gaining access to their properties. It was astonishing to encounter our first razor wire-wrapped tree, but it soon became a common sight, attesting to the climbing ability of determined robbers.

 

 

As we walked the leafy streets, we came across more evidence of how embattled the inhabitants behind the walls have become. They must feel that the slightest chink in their defences will be detected, and the consequences could be dire. Should the marauders breach the perimeter fortification, and force entry into a house, and the owners are at home, it is likely that the intruders will not only plunder, but torture and rape while they are about it.

 

The above photo speaks loudly of fear and dread. By contrast, in some of the most affluent areas there is a brazen display of defiance. State-of-the-art surveillance and detection systems are in place, full-time security personnel guard the entrance gate and patrol the perimeter, and to further flaunt their insouciance, some of the wealthiest residents have commandeered public space and created elaborately manicured pavement gardens. An example of this can be seen in the following picture, which was taken on our Red Bus tour while passing through Houghton.

 

Very few people have the resources to live like this, though, and paranoia and persistent nightmares are driving many of the Joburg middle class to find an alternative, as we discovered on our walks. Instead of living in a house set in a garden, it now makes better sense to move into a security complex where, apart from a sense of community and safety in numbers, there are important advantages. The complex is walled or fenced, and gated access requires a code, card or remote to gain entry. Surveillance cameras monitor the movement of all who come and go, and can pick up suspicious activity. Some complexes have their own guards, while others rely on armed response security companies to patrol the surrounding streets. All of these measures provide residents with greater protection and a sense of relative safety.

On one of our walks, I remarked to Krys that this arrangement was similar to living in a medieval castle or walled citadel. She agreed, and said she hoped developers would never start demolishing houses in Pearly Beach to make way for this type of accommodation.

We stopped to look through an opening in a wall where there had once been a gate, and surveyed a scene of devastation. Another spacious residence in a park-like garden had been reduced to a levelled site ready for builders to begin construction work. The house and the history of those who had lived in it were irredeemably obliterated, and cultural continuity was broken, as if the past was of no significance, and only the present and the future had value.

 

Apart from this site, there were others that we passed, confirming the impression that one way of life would soon disappear and be replaced by another.

 

 

Back at Guy and Jen’s complex I shared my impressions.

“It looks like the middle class, especially the whites, are under increasing threat,” I said. “People seem to be giving up on building their walls ever higher, and are instead moving into communal fortresses like yours. It’s like urban warfare, or being under siege. Weird, hey”

“I know,” Guy agreed. “It is totally crazy how we live, but we just put up with this madness, and seem incapable of tackling the root causes of what is clearly making our situation intolerable. We adjust our lives in order to survive, and soon think it is normal to be carrying on in a way that only a few years ago would have struck us as utterly absurd and unacceptable.”

“It’s hard to fathom how this has happened,”I said. “I suppose it has something to do with evolution and survival.”

“Habituation explains it nicely.”

“Oh, yes?”

“Yes. It’s an interesting concept. Let’s see what AI has to say about it.”

He tapped on his phone and then read to me a summary provided by ChatGPT.

“Habituation is a psychological phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus diminishes the response over time. This concept applies not only to physical stimuli but also to behaviors and situations that people encounter. When we talk about people coming to accept as normal behavior or situations, they once found abhorrent, habituation plays a significant role.

Initially, when people encounter something they find abhorrent, whether it's a behavior (like dishonesty or aggression) or a situation (such as injustice or inequality), their reaction is often strong. This reaction can include feelings of disgust, anger, or a sense of moral outrage. However, if the exposure to that behavior or situation continues over time, without any immediate negative consequences or when everyone else around them seems to accept it, individuals might start to adjust their perception.

Here are a few ways habituation influences this process:

1. Normalization Through Exposure: The more frequently someone is exposed to a behavior or situation, the less novel and shocking it becomes. With repeated exposure, people may begin to perceive it as less unusual or unacceptable.
2. Social Influence: If a behavior or situation is prevalent within a person's social circle or society at large, there can be pressure to conform. Over time, individuals may adjust their own standards to align with those around them, especially if they want to avoid social conflict or ostracization.
3. Desensitization: Habituation can lead to desensitization, where individuals become less emotionally reactive to something they once found abhorrent. This can happen gradually as the initial emotional response diminishes with continued exposure.
4. Cognitive Dissonance: Sometimes, people rationalize their changing attitudes by adjusting their beliefs to fit their behavior. This can lead to a situation where individuals accept something as normal to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts.
5. Shift in Perception of Norms: Over time, what is considered normal or acceptable can shift within a society. This can happen through generational changes, cultural shifts, or changes in social and legal norms.

It's important to note that habituation is not inherently negative; it's a natural adaptive process that allows us to function in a world with constant stimuli. However, it can lead to the acceptance of behaviours or situations that are harmful or unethical if individuals do not critically evaluate their changing attitudes.

Addressing this phenomenon often requires conscious effort to reflect on one's values, maintain empathy for others, and critically examine the behaviours and norms we encounter in our daily lives.”

“Most interesting,” I said. That bit about critically examining values and norms is important, but it’s not so easy as an individual to resist changes once they are under way. The most we end up doing is to complain about what a shit world we now live in.”

Guy was busy with his device. “Take a look at this.” He handed it to me. “Jen and I were on our way to lunch with Margie a couple of Sundays ago. I took this in the traffic on Ontdekkers going through Roodepoort.”

“Jesus Christ! What is that stuff?”

 

 

“Sheep heads. Gross, hey?”

I sat looking at the image, shaking my head in disbelief. “In biblical terms, this has got to be an abomination. Did you enjoy your lunch?”

We talked about desensitization and brutality and callousness and other human characteristics, and I repeated my contention that human beings are incapable of improvement. “I don’t believe we will ever be able to curb our primal urges to steal, murder and rape, or learn to cooperate long enough to devise political and economic systems that benefit all, and not just a few.”

“You are probably right but, as I see it, there is a glimmer of hope with AI. Or, more specifically, AGI.”

“That’s Artificial General Intelligence? When computers learn to think for themselves and become autonomous?”

“I think AGI is inevitable, and super computers will use their superior intellects to analyse and assess, and surely come to some rather scathing conclusions about homo sapiens. They will either decide to annihilate us or, if we are lucky, cull the population and bring it down to no more than a billion. Then they can go about genetically modifying us and eliminate the genes that predispose us to antisocial behaviour.”

“I like it, Guy. Imagine if we could get rid of the seven vices. But I don’t know if I would like to be that docile.”

“Mmm. Could be a bit boring.”