Galápagos syndrome
Encyclopedia
Galápagos syndrome is a term that describes the phenomenon of a product or a society evolving in isolation from globalization
. The term is a reference to a similar phenomenon observed in the Galápagos Islands
, and described by Darwin
, where plants and animals evolved endemically and in genetic isolation from other locations.
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
. The term is a reference to a similar phenomenon observed in the Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
, and described by Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, where plants and animals evolved endemically and in genetic isolation from other locations.
Usage
- "Japan’s cellphones are like the endemic species that Darwin encountered on the Galápagos Islands — fantastically evolved and divergent from their mainland cousins — explains Takeshi Natsuno, who teaches at Tokyo’s Keio University."
- "Japanese phones suffer from 'Galapagos Syndrome' — are too complex to survive abroad.
- "It has been claimed that the indigenous American automotive industry has suffered from the Galapagos Syndrome – its products have evolved separately from the rest of the world."
- "The Galapagosization of Japan continues. According to a survey released today, a shocking two-thirds of the country’s white-collar workers said they didn’t want to work abroad…ever."
- "The same question has occurred to me recently upon hearing, with greater and greater frequency, the "explanation" of Japanese culture being garapagosuka ("galapagosized")."
External links
- Slowing Japan's Galapagos Syndrome article from Huffington Post.