The unscathed frog metaphor

Greetings!

One thing common among Zoologists and Management Gurus (and perhaps the rare amphibian-cuisine-connoisseurs) is their fascination with the boiled frog!

So, what is this oft-repeated sordid tale of the poor and ultimately scathed amphibian? 

The pop version goes as follows - 

"A frog is let into a pot with water. It makes itself comfy and takes to it like a fish (or rather like a frog) in water. Then the pot is very slowly heated. The frog ignores this slow, gradual, incremental change. But then, at one point of time, the water starts boiling and it is too late for the frog to get out of situation. The frog gets boiled eventually."

Morale of this pop version of story is clear - beware of slow, gradual, incremental changes. Watch out for tell-tale signs, lest the situation worsens to the doomsday scenario. 

They even have a name for this condition where people, organizations and societies go on ignoring gradual change and then eventually face their doom on account of this ignorance. 

They call this affliction as "The boiling frog syndrome".

The antidote prescribed by wise folks is - to be sensitive (and not dumb), adaptive and responsive even to the gradual changes. 

It is a fair and important point. This cautionary tale is definitely worth consideration and action. 

But why does the frog ignore this gradual change? Is it really too dumb to understand? Is it really too insensitive to changes in temperature? Can it not adapt and respond to the change quickly?

Well, lets empathize with this amphibian and get into the shoes (or rather the webbed feet) of this amazing animal and understand how it responds to changes in temperature.

Here is a 1979 compendium study of temperature regulation in frogs and salamanders (Link :  Amphibian Temperature Regulation Studies in the Field and Laboratory  ). This is an exhaustive study that considers dozens of experiments, observations and insights. Diagram depicted below (taken from the same study) summarizes the strategies a frog uses to respond to changes in temperature. 

So what's the conclusion then?

While pop version paints the humble frog as too dumb, insensitive and non-adaptive to its surrounding - science says that it is exactly opposite!

Science says that the frog belongs to an intelligent, adaptive species. 

As per scientific experiments and empirical observations - a frog is extremely adaptive to its environment. (Remember it lives in water and on land with equal ease. That is more adaptive than most species!).

In fact, successive experiments have shown that the boiling frog syndrome is indeed a myth!!!

While frog may try to survive initial changes in temperature, as soon as it perceives that the temperatures are uncomfortable, it tries to jump out of water with all its might! 

So this syndrome is simply a metaphor for cautioning humans where we have (yet again) superimposed (yet another of) our idiosyncrasies on (yet another) hapless animal!

Now that the frog is acquitted of this damning boiling syndrome, let's then look at the "The boiling frog syndrome" metaphor exclusively as a human fallacy.

So why do humans wait for things to reach the boiling point? And most importantly, how not to reach the boiling point and jump out before getting scathed?

Well, we all know that the human way to ensure a quick exit from gradual progression to doom, is not to be dumb, insensitive and non-adaptive. But is that the entire message? Is something missing from it?

Well, as with most tales, there is another side to this story as well... 

Let's use the same fable, with same tragic end but with more insight, to understand this other side - 

"A frog is let into a pot with water. It makes itself comfy and takes to it like a fish (or like an uber-adaptive amphibian frog) in water. The frog has an amazing ability to adapt to its environment by adjusting its own body temperature. It is a marvelous ability, which, along with many other such superhuman abilities makes sure that it survives and thrives. Then the pot is slowly heated. The frog does not ignore this gradual change, but senses and adapts to this slow, incremental change using the complex mechanisms listed in 1979 paper along with other known or unknown tricks of thermo regulation. It is the ultimate and most sophisticated form of adaptivity. But then, each little adaption takes toll on the energy reserves of this uber-adaptive frog. At one point, the water nears boiling temperatures and the frog doesn't have enough energy left to either adapt to or jump its way out of situation. The frog gets boiled eventually."

So, with this twist in the tale (while keeping the tail of the original tale intact), we get another, diagonally opposite, but equally profound morale of the same tragic boiled frog metaphor. 

The second morale is that, the other way to ensure quick exit from gradual progression to doom, is not to be too perceptive, avoid being extra-sensitive and stop being uber-adaptive.

I think this goes back to the musician-tuning-string-instrument-analogy by the great Gautam Buddha - "Don't pull the string so hard that it would break and don't let it be so slack that it wont play."

Well, at least the frog seems to have figured it out as it adapts to a certain point and then jumps out of uncomfortable situation - timely and instinctively! This is a new metaphor then, "The unscathed frog metaphor"!

I think it is time for humans to relegate "The boiling frog syndrome" to yesterday's folklores and instead follow "The unscathed frog metaphor"

What do you think?

Sincerely Mine!

Anand Kulkarni