Prevalence-induced Concept change

If your like me, then you’ve never heard of prevalence-induced concept change, but you have definitely been affected by it.

There is an article here that discusses a study done to observe this phenomenon here.

Below is a quote from the article.

When blue dots became rare, participants began to see purple dots as blue; when threatening faces became rare, participants began to see neutral faces as threatening; and when unethical requests became rare, participants began to see innocuous requests as unethical. This “prevalence-induced concept change” occurred even when participants were forewarned about it and even when they were instructed and paid to resist it. Social problems may seem intractable in part because reductions in their prevalence lead people to see more of them

In short, we have a bucket in our brain that is labeled negative emotion, and no matter what our environment is, this bucket is always full.

Is your life going to hell in a hand basket? that negative emotion bucket I filled.

Are you having the best day of life your wedding day perhaps? That bucket is full.

Whether or not you are having a great day or a horrible life, that bucket of negative emotions is full, but the contents are drastically different. If your life…