I disagree with this the way it is presented here. Actually, what I think happens even more often is that people instinctively imagine that there are such bandits hiding in the trees (depending on context), and then act accordingly. As a maybe bad example, lots of people I know will refuse or find it uncomfortable to dine alone, because they tell themselves that strangers will dislike them for it, not because they will suffer reprisals. Maybe such self-consciousness is borne out of experience, but my observations tend toward “this person isn’t using anything like system one reasoning and is in fact reducing their attack surface when there’s no visible threat.”
I disagree with this the way it is presented here. Actually, what I think happens even more often is that people instinctively imagine that there are such bandits hiding in the trees (depending on context), and then act accordingly. As a maybe bad example, lots of people I know will refuse or find it uncomfortable to dine alone, because they tell themselves that strangers will dislike them for it, not because they will suffer reprisals. Maybe such self-consciousness is borne out of experience, but my observations tend toward “this person isn’t using anything like system one reasoning and is in fact reducing their attack surface when there’s no visible threat.”