We are like frogs boiling in Trump's water

Boston Globe

08-06-2025

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I tried to set objective reference points. I told myself early on that if the government began deporting citizens without cause, I'd be protesting nonstop or leaving the country. But when those deportations
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Like parboiled frogs, many of us have a tendency to grow numb to escalating threats, explains psychologist Scott Allison of the University of Richmond. 'Detaching is a protective mechanism,' he says. 'Numbness or checking out becomes our emotional armor.' One way to distance ourselves is to steer clear of the news altogether. Another is to get so swept up in the day-to-day — the flurry of kid activities, the serpentine of Zoom meetings — that the broader arc of history grows faint.
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In the short term, getting used to the water often
is
adaptive; we need to do it to some extent to get through the day, to tackle meal prep and to-do lists. But it breeds complacency in the long run. During the Third Reich, Berliners used to
As we linger in the pot, many of us seem to be waiting for just the right moment to jump out, and we assume we'll know that moment when we see it. But our capacity to adapt can make it hard to recognize such moments and act decisively.
When a significant change happens — say, immigrants start getting sent to foreign prisons without due process — people subconsciously base their reaction to this change on how
What's more, once we've adapted to a certain level of chaos, it gets harder to take in each new chaotic development, just as it's hard to hear a cry for help over a blaring siren. This is a longstanding problem: When Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport collected the life histories of
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Since our minds are so predisposed to inertia, what, if anything, can compel us to jump out of the pot? The first step is recognizing just how hot the water actually is, and sometimes, that recognition needs to be visceral. People are more likely to fully grasp a change when what's happening disrupts their familiar rhythms and routines — as when Milford High School students felt 18-year-old Marcelo Gomes da Silva's absence at graduation. Immigration agents had detained him, which spurred
Students walked out of Milford High School last Monday to protest the detention of Marcelo Gomes da Silva. The student had been on his way to volleyball practice.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Once an unsettling change sinks in, O'Brien's research suggests we're more likely to act decisively when
Paying what Allison calls 'selective attention' to what's happening — volunteering for a single, specific cause or
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Just as crucially, selective attention can connect you to communities whose members are organizing broader repair efforts. Because most people weigh how useful a given response is likely to be before they carry it out, courageous action often rests on sophisticated social processing, as people observe others' efforts and decide whether to follow suit. By modeling your own way forward, you can shape other people's assessments. When they see examples of meaningful intervention, they may be more likely to decide action is beneficial, not self-defeating. Entire social movements can
But even as you range beyond familiar routines and traditions, you don't have to renounce them. Don't feel guilty for going all out to celebrate your cousin's wedding or your kid's graduation. In fact, enjoying these peak moments can
My own life hasn't yet changed radically amid the national chaos. I'm still arranging kid playdates and attending end-of-year band concerts. But while the water around me keeps getting hotter, I no longer feel fully submerged. I'm paying selective attention in my own way, joining advocacy groups and checking in with threatened members of my community. Though I don't always know where these efforts will lead, I know jumping out of the pot is better than getting cooked.
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