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
The powerful tendency to favour the option that requires no active choice - whatever is pre-selected. Organ donation rates differ dramatically across countries based solely on whether the default is opt-in or opt-out.
When it shows up
Any choice where one option is pre-selected: organ donor settings, retirement fund enrollment, subscription renewals, app permissions. Any decision-frame that requires action to opt out.
Failure mode
Whatever requires no action is taken by the majority. The default is treated as implicitly recommended ('if this were a bad default, they would have changed it'). Inertia does the choosing even for high-stakes outcomes.
Countermeasure
Design defaults deliberately in systems you control. As a chooser, ask: 'Would I actively pick this if nothing were preselected?' If not, opt out.
Related traps
Also connected in the map7 more, locked
Credit & first seen
DiscoveredJohnson, E.J.&Goldstein, D. (2003).'Do defaults save lives?'Science 302(5649), 1338-1339 source ↗
Also revealed
Entry #61 of 631 in The Lexicon · see the full Lexicon