Most cognitive biases die hard because people do n’t realize they ’ve fallen prey to them . But at last , here ’s one that we should consciously encourage . All obsessional people everywhere should ring together and back up the zero risk bias .
citizenry do n’t like leaving things half - done . know that it ’s still there , percolating , is like a brain itchiness that ca n’t ever quite be scratch . This is why inspirational actor’s line run along the line of , “ We will work until every last someone receives the benefit of a first class education and not one person is ever the victim of a wild crime , ” instead of “ We ’ll assay to ensure most kids have a chance of good education and only a few masses get murdered in their own home base every twelvemonth . ” It ’s not that make ideal ( or an obsessive motivation to finish things ) is always a bad matter . It ’s just that it ’s often a unsound affair .
Greatly reducing a problem takes work , but give middling tumid benefits . altogether extinguish a trouble – any problem , from jaywalking to terrorism – imply put more and more resources while the welfare diminish and diminish . And yet people like the idea of it . No one wants to say that , you fuck , five or six sinless hoi polloi obliterate every year is hunky-dory , as far as they ’re concerned .
Enter the zero risk bias . The experiment that revealed this cognitive bias was a unproblematic survey . hoi polloi were ask to select between three different architectural plan for two hazardous wasteland website . One site caused eight cases of cancer per class . One caused only four . Two dissimilar architectural plan involved different clean - up efforts that reduced the total amount of Crab diagnosing by six case a twelvemonth . A third plan only repress the turn of suit by five , but annihilate the cancer risk completely as the less - grave site . While that third plan was only favor by forty - two percent of the people , it was , by the numbers racket , the least effective plan . multitude chose it because they liked that one region was completely safe , and that the task was wholly done .
And I say respectable for them . As someone whose favored strategy ( when it comes to cleaning , write uncomfortable emails , or organizing my stuff ) is to put a huge clump of fourth dimension and wretchedness into catch it all over with , I sanction . Sometimes you just like to get clobber done . Why should a measly few decease outweigh the psychological quilt of forty - two percent of population ? What ’s that you say ? The want of the other fifty - eight pct of the population ? Do n’t concern . I ’m sure we could extinguish them if we essay firmly enough . They ’ve already demonstrated that they do n’t have the will to win completely .
Top Image : hobvias sudoneighm
[ ViaManaging Hazardous Waste , Should We strain for Zero Risk . ]
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