🐸Don’t boil like a frog

Let’s discuss the cognitive limitation called Status Quo Bias.

Humans tend to stick to the default situation more often than not.

Many a times this tendency causes more harm to us than good, but we still prefer the known over the unknown.

This human tendency is called Status Quo Bias.

Do you understand inertia?

Think middle-school physics. Think Newton’s first law of motion.

Inertia

Inertia is the tendency of a body to stick to its current conditions in the absence of an external force. Moving objects tend to stay moving, still objects tend to stay still. Only an outside force can change their current state.

This is so true for us humans as well.

Boiling Frog Syndrome

Status Quo bias is closely related to the concept of boiling frog syndrome.

The idea is that if a frog is put in boiling water it will immediately jump out and save itself. But if its put in tepid water and heated slowly then it will cook itself to death. Incremental increase in temperature will not lead the frog to sense the danger of the boiling water.

It will stick to its known conditions even when they are harming it.

It will stick to to the status quo.

Many of us are living like a boiling frog in some aspect of our life.

For some its their physical health, for some its their financial health, and for some its their psychological health.

The Two Forces

If someone told you that you will die of a cardiac arrest tomorrow if you don’t work out today, then you will be immediately seen on the treadmill within an instant.

But if someone told you that you are likely to die of cardiac arrest 30 years from now if you don’t build a daily workout routine from a young age, then there’s little chance that you will act on that information.

You will be a lot more comfortable to stick with the status quo and delay the workout for the proverbial “tomorrow” that never comes.

There are two forces here that will make you act instinctively, highlighted in the two sentences above. The absence of these forces ensures your inaction.

1. Urgency.
2. Certainty.

The irony is that most good things in life come from being able to deal with uncertainty over a long period of time. Be it having good health, fulfilling relationships, or substantial wealth.

Thank you for reading, for a detailed discussion check out the complete post on The Wisdom Project.

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Originally published at https://wisdomproject.substack.com on September 25, 2022.