From 'is' to 'ought'

1929 Bride  (Photo from infrogmation)

There is an all-too-human tendency to assume that the way things currently are is inherently right.  In other words, people tend to “see the commonplace as good and how things should be.”

This bias shows up in preschoolers, as well as in adults.  When four-year-olds see brides wearing white at weddings, they tend to attribute this habit to the color itself rather than to a fashion trend.  As they get older and have “more information about how the world works,” they will hopefully think more flexibly about situations they encounter.

Because life often changes from moment to moment, people don’t have the time to critique all routine occurrences. Cognitively speaking, the “need for efficiency often trumps the need for accuracy.”  Jumping to simplistic conclusions then easily follows.

Resources

http://www.livescience.com/55335-why-people-consider-normal-to-be-good.html 

Copyright July 17, 2016 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved