Walang Paki, Absencing, and Cognitive Distancing from the Poor

by Elmer S Soriano

A few years back, I had a friend from Sydney visiting me in Manila. We were in the car stopped at an intersection when a street child knocked at window. She was jolted by the sight of a human just inches away from her, looking her in the eye, begging for help. 

I, however, had been desensitized by years of exposure to street children. The common practice is to knock twice from the inside of the window to dismiss them, or to simply look away.

How can a society become desensitized to the plight of the poor?  

"Walang paki'' is short for "walang pakialam", which translates to "no accountability, responsibility, or care".

These terms roughly correspond to Scharmer's "absencing" (see video) which he explains as:

"The cycle of absencing unfolds through blinding and denial rather than seeing; entrenching and desensing rather than sensing; holding-on instead of letting go. By doing these things, we create an illusionary map of reality that results in killing the new instead of birthing and co-creating it.

 Lott (2002) explores the same concepts from the class and race perspectives and describe  "cognitive and behavioral distancing from the poor" as

"...a dominant response is that of distancing, that is, separation,exclusion, devaluation, discounting, and designation as “other,” and that this response can be identified in both institutional and interpersonal contexts. In social psycho-logical terms, distancing and denigrating responses operationally define discrimination."

Filipino Psychology	Scharmer	Lott
bulag, nagbubulagan	blinding
manhid, walang paki	desesnsing
nagmamatigas, nagpupumilit	holding on
mata pobre; hampas lupa; nilalait		Symbols of ridicule
Tinuturing na basahan		"nonpersons"; not worthy of recognition;
Walang pinag-aralan		Stereotyping; symbols of ridicule"

The Filipino terms here are drawn from a more critical or judgemental voice, where there is a premise or moral expectation of the "other" should see or empathize. Lott, however, 

From the designer's perspective, the Deep Dive evolved into Human-Centered Design as antidote to absencing. The Empathy Field Guide organizes the feelings that one may encouter as one walks in someone else's shoes.  

From the social development perspetive, leaders should be able to name the class stereotypes and social psychology blinders that inject cognitive distancing from the poor. Issues and biases that accompany race, class, gender, etc. have to be named in order for these stereotypes to be less blinding. 

Sources:
Lott, Bernice, Cognitive and behavioral distancing from the poor.
American Psychologist, Vol 57(2), Feb 2002, 100-110.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.2.100
Scharmer, Otto, http://www.ottoscharmer.com/sites/default/files/2011_BMZ_Forum_Scharmer.pdf

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