As noted in Wikipedia, “the normalcy bias, or normality bias, refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects”. People think just because something has never happened before that it can’t happen or it won’t be that bad. I would like to reference two events in history as examples.
Let’s start with Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of New Orleans residents refused to leave the city, and city officials didn’t attempt to force an evacuation. With a recipe of an inadequate government, unprepared citizens and denial that the levees would fail the end course left over two thousand people dead.
Now let’s go further back in history to the Holocaust. Have you ever wondered why so many Jews continued to live in Germany, even after they were forced to wear the identifying Star of David and discriminatory laws were passed against them? Jews who could’ve easily afforded to move out of the country stayed, and perished. Life had been so good for so long that they thought, surely, things would get better. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Their are so many different accounts that I could list when it comes to talking about this bias. It really all boils down to the fact that no matter what, some people are going to be blind to their surroundings. To say the least, most people's situational awareness "sucks".
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