That quote is so
spot on that I'm going to get it printed on a mug.
Lets call the adaptive people "Alice", like in cryptography, and use one of your examples at random: Air conditioning.
A hundred years ago, if it was too hot Alice just shrugged and didn't do anything about it. She just accepted that "It Is What It Is." Around the turn of the century, one guy, named Willis H. Carrier, decided "enough is enough, I'm going to fix this" and invented modern electric air conditioning machines. These days Alice accepts the new state of things: you can buy air conditioners, and once purchased, you can turn them on.
But lets be honest: If Alice had to use a building without air conditioning, or broken air conditioning, there's a snowball's chance in hell that she'll actually do anything about it, despite the ready availability of such devices and specialised tradespeople to fix them.
I've regularly visit a government office where 200 people have sat sweating for three years because nobody lifted a finger to I dunno... maybe see what's wrong with the aircon.
This observation exactly matches my experience of the world.
I'd love to live in your world where most people go out of their way to improve the status quo in novel ways. It would be... magical.