The Normalcy Bias

I find myself struggling with the inherent tendency to return to a sense of normality.

The "Normalcy Bias" - the bias to assume that everything will go back to the way things were before the crisis (any crisis) is one of the great tendencies of the human mind.  You can see it from something as simple as being gone for a minor illness for a month to individuals returning from the war to find that they and the world has changed, no matter how much they try to fit things back into the old mold.

The outcome of all of this is still in doubt.  What is apparent is no matter what happens, things will not be quite "as before".  We will probably end up discussing any number of things as "Before Covid-19", as we now discuss things like walking up to airport gates as "Before 9/11".

I cannot deny that it will happen.  What I am struggling to fight in my own mind is my own tendency towards normalcy.  I cannot go back to "normal", no matter how things happen.

We have learned a few things:

- The economy is much more dependent on consumer spending than anyone cares to believe.
- The government can effectively shut down any segment of the economy that it wants at this point.
-  Many jobs that go into a shutdown do not come out of a shutdown.
- You do not determine if your job is essential or not.  The government does that for you.
- Ultimately, you are responsible for your circumstances.  The government will do a little, but not a lot.

I need to take these lessons -and any others that come out of this event - and drill them into my head and act on them.  Because if (God willing) we come out of this, it will happen again.  And it will be worse.

Beat the rush.  Beat down the Normalcy Bias.