Have you ever sat there listening to the fire alarm ringing out saying to yourself that is it just a test, a practice run or it must be faulty? Have you been sitting down watching TV and the home smoke alarm goes off and you assume that someone has burned the toast (again)
Why is our first instant to ignore (based on experience) and not gather more information? Why is our confidence so high that we know that we are right? Why, given your life may be a stake, does apathy overrun our response?
Wider, why can we not see a new threat, why do we ignore the signs? The second round of COVID19
Why when we know there is at least equal danger to previous time, do we want to assume it is now all OK? Going back or ignoring the protection
Why do we prefer to search for evidence of the V-bounce back and ignore the L recession as doom-mongering?
Why, probably because we are choosing how we want things to appear based on our own inner-thinkings and that is driven by bias. We know we are biased and prefer to see what we want to see. This is not to say that we hallucinate but when there is room for uncertainty, we make a decision based on the bias of our beliefs and desired outcomes. Biases (there are over 180 documented) form from how we consume information, how we perceive the world and how we make decisions when there are conflicts.
Consider COVID19. For consumption in a market of free speech, you can just follow the conspiracy theories and ignore science. How to perceive the world when no one you know is sick or has died, surely it is safe. Our decision in conflict is where someone is inclined to believe politicians are exaggerating the coronavirus threat for their own gain, now imagine how difficult it is for them to understand why they should shelter-in-place in order save others.
When you next hear the fire alarm - what will you do ?