This is a Lexicon entry: the mechanism, when it shows up, and the countermeasure. The full correction, with real-world cases and the audit prompt, hasn't been written yet.
Definition
An evolutionary drive toward cynicism and risk aversion, assuming unfamiliar things are dangerous to ensure survival. The pattern worked on the savanna; less useful when evaluating new medical treatments or unfamiliar foods.
When it shows up
First contact with unfamiliar food, people, technology or ideas. Situations where the brain cannot calibrate the downside and defaults to treating unfamiliar as hazardous. Novelty-rich environments (new cities, new cultures, new colleagues).
Failure mode
A general-purpose 'assume danger' flag fires on anything novel. The cost of missed opportunity is invisible because the averted choice never happens. The filter stays silent even when the risk is trivial.
Countermeasure
Separate evidence-of-harm from mere unfamiliarity. Ask: 'What specifically could go wrong and how often has that actually occurred with things in this class?' If the answer is vague, the bias is running.
Related traps
Also connected in the map4 more, locked
Credit & first seen
PopularizedGrounded in evolutionary psychology. The core adaptive logic is formalised in Error Management Theory (Haselton&Buss, 2000, Psychological Review).
Also revealed
Entry #8 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon