Status quo bias is usually justified

Link post

Generally, we know more about the status quo then about anything else.

  • We know that we can live in the current climate, we don’t know that about any other climate.

  • We know that society functions with current laws and norms, we don’t know that about any other set of laws.

Often, we are adapted to the status quo and the status quo is adapted to us.

  • We and the plants and animals we depend on evolved to live in the current the global climate. Many of our city are built on the coast, our population is distributed in a way that can be supported by agriculture.

  • Our laws are the result of millenia of trial and error.

Often, the status quo is a compromise between different groups, individuals or even desires within an indivdual.

The test for status quo bias is reversal. If we oppose a change in one direction, do we also oppose change in the other direction? We’re concerned about global warming, and we were also concerned about global cooling. Any change in the climate has unpredictable consequences.