Region Beta Paradox use in everyday life

The Region Beta Paradox is psychological phenomenon whereby individuals seemingly choose to remain in slightly unfavorable situations for longer periods than choosing a more acutely unfavorable situation for a much shorter duration. This despite the fact that we often recover more quickly from a worse situation than a less bad prolonged one.

An easy example would be getting a sore knee that might bother you for years, but isn’t bad enough that you go to the doctor or get surgery. If we assign this discomfort a value of 1 and assume that this occurs over many years, over a 20-year period you will have accrued a value of 20. A broken knee that requires surgery immediately may be very painful, let’s say a discomfort value of 15, but heals within a few months. So, of the two situations the more painful option is actually better overall. However, in practice very few people would actually choose a broken knee over a sore knee.

Where the Region Beta Paradox can be applied

Viewed through the prism of the paradox, it becomes easy to ascertain numerous situations in everyday life where its application could yield a positive outcome, so long as we are willing to accept the more difficult choice in the beginning.

Someone in an unhappy but tolerable relationship for example might benefit from taking stock of whether they would be better off with the perceived risk of looking for a new relationship, with the possible pay off being that they are happier eventually.

Another obvious example is the fitness related phrase of 'Suffer now or suffer later' pertaining to the idea that exercise and fitness involves a lot of perceived suffering and pain, but is ultimately better than the health problems being out of shape can cause later in life. Personal fitness is a particularly good example since without intervention this does not improve.

Two similar ideas are bias for action, which advocates action over inaction and the phrase ‘A stitch in time saves nine’ which suggests that completing seemingly small tasks quickly alleviates potential larger problems down the road.

Task Paralysis or Region Beta Paradox?

In many cases a lack of taking any action at all to improve a given situation is what holds people back. A kind of task paralysis whereby the change or action seems too large and daunting to even start, regardless of the discomfort of the current situation or potential benefit of acting.

The idea that doing even something very small and incremental is beneficial in and of itself is something that should always be remembered in these cases. An improvement of 100% may be monumental and intimidating to begin, but improvements of 1% each day over a year results in a 37 fold improvement due to compounding.

Shortcomings of the Region Beta Paradox

However, while some situations fit the idea of the Region beta Paradox neatly, others aren’t quite as compatible and require a more holistic analysis.

For example, if you have a job that is generally a bit unpleasant but not that bad you might tend to stay and put up with it for a long time. According to the region beta paradox, a job that is totally horrific and would cause you to leave very quickly as a result would be better. What this doesn’t take into account however is that some situations do improve over time.

That stressful job you are in may result in a promotion after suffering through the first couple of years. The boss or co-worker you dislike may leave and be replaced with someone much nicer, or the company could be taken over and a new more inspiring culture put in place.

Putting up with situations which are less than ideal in many cases can also be down to lack of a viable comparison at the time, or from believing that your own personal perception is the defining characteristic at fault.

For example, if you work in an office where most other people seem happy but you generally aren’t, it’s easy to take the attitude that things must not be that bad because most people aren’t feeling the same way you do. This can then lead to the belief that the way you feel must be some sort of failing on your part, or that there is something you aren’t seeing somehow that others are.

An alternative stoic approach

Using the above example, it is important to remember that how you feel about a situation is valid even if others don’t feel the same way. But also, somewhat paradoxically, the famous quote from the Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca is always worth remembering as well:

'We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.'

Mastering the idea that we are in control of how much things affect us and our moods can be a powerful tool in alleviating many seemingly negative emotions and situations without having to make drastic changes. In assessing situations then it is always important to make sure that our perceptions of them are accurate.

In conclusion

Awareness of the Region Beta paradox can be a powerful psychological tool which when used judiciously and with correct analysis can be a good way to improve numerous situations.