Status Quo Bias
I have to admit, the first time I heard that term I had a
vague idea of what it was; maybe in the same way that I have a vague idea of
how the transmission in a car works. I understand the ideas behind the gears and
how they are changed, but I can in no way appreciate the engineering math that
makes them function.
Status Quo Bias affects us all to one degree or another, but
it is by far the most powerful (and detrimental) when it distorts and hinders
our abilities to improve our skills. So
what is it? Simply put, it’s the preference
to have things remain the way they are. Doesn’t
sound so bad, right? Well the bias has
some small implications on our personal skills and conditions and by small I mean life altering.
Lets be honest, its usually much easier to do what we are
doing than to do anything harder. There
are a great deal of hard things in life and plenty of people exert a great deal
of effort avoiding those things to the point that they become experts in
sedentary excellence. I’ve known people
in my life so lazy that if sitting on a couch was a career field, they would be
Doctoral experts on optimal ass placement vs range of motion to chip bag. Its just so easy to meet the minimum
standards for existence that anything harder is scary and because its scary, we
perceive attempting it as a loss. That’s right, sometimes doing something new
that has positive implications is viewed as bad by our brain because of the
work that must be done.
Now, Status Quo Bias ranges from; the book was way better than the movie to I can’t break an 8 minute mile run time. Of the two, only one has potentially life
altering consequences (or both I guess if you are still as pissed about the
hobo piss fueled eye-cancer that is The
Hobbit). Status Quo Bias isn’t always
a bad thing; it’s what keeps what we like what
we like and is probably the only reason some musicians still have careers
despite bizarre and offensive behavior *cough Bieber.* We find our favorite shows, foods, drinks,
clothes and Magpul magazine style and our bias makes sure we stick with it.
But when it comes to training, Status Quo Bias is
cancer. Be it poor physical condition or
the idea that you cant do [insert skill/technique here] better, Status Quo Bias
is basically giving you the idea that you are perfectly fine meeting the
minimum standards in a gun fight.
Ill let that sink in.
I’ve written on this topic in the past and more recently as well,
though I felt that drawing attention to Status Quo Bias might be helpful for a
few reasons; let’s look at how it works.
Chances are if you don’t know if you can run a hundred yards or not
without a break, the answer is no. What keeps you from getting an answer to
that question is you may feel like there should be more to gain from running a
hundred yards than the physical act of the accomplishment. Essentially saying that the gain you do get (calories
burned, exercise, personal knowledge etc.) is not worth what you must give to achieve
it (this is called the Endowment Effect).
Compounded on top of that, we as humans have a strange psychological quirk
in which losing at something can be twice as bad as winning (Loss Aversion) and
because of that, we often see any potential gain a risk compared to what we
lose. What could you possibly lose in
running 100 yards that outweighs the gain?
Besides your shot at a Doctorate in Couch Cushion Comfortability, you
may lose the ability to remain in the state you are in. The comfortable, easy, minimum standard
state. Remember what I said about
gunfights and minimum standards?
If your default condition is out-of-shape or hits-the-target-occasionally,
chances are you are who I’m speaking to.
The thing is, whatever you have been doing up until this point has been
giving you those same results and its obvious that you wont improve without
change. As they say, if you do what you have always done, you will
get what you have always gotten. Results
require change, progress and the sort of self-honestly that makes you better than
you were yesterday, and willing to fight for who you will be tomorrow. This doesn’t happen overnight. It takes hard work, which is the moral enemy
of Status Quo Bias.
Learning from others
When it comes to shooting and fitness, change is a requirement
to continued improvement. For shooting, you don’t know what you don’t know and
this is where professional instruction comes in. Learning the proper methods for techniques
and skills can be done (to a degree) from the internet and videos, though the
largest road block is that there is no one right there with you to let you know
if you have it right, or are being the most efficient. Fitness is no different; if you are already
on the path, plateaus and performance walls are best destroyed with the help of
new routine and a more experienced coach/trainer/guy who does pushups better
than you. Sometimes the best way to
improve is having someone there to tell us exactly how we suck, and show us
ways to suck less (hopefully in a nicer way, unless you respond best to tough
love).
Gear fixes
Pretty easy; guys buy gear because it’s needed or because
they want it. The reasons for wanting it
should not include hopes for skill improvement simply based on owning it. I can spring for a Formula One car, that doesn’t
mean I will be able to drive any more efficiently. I can go up in caliber, that doesn’t compensate
for all the rounds that don’t hit the target.
I can buy P90X, that doesn’t mean I will lose weight. I have to learn how to properly use and
handle the gear, and all the basics to doing so are not gear inherent.
Culture shock
You try something for the first time, and that shit is
hard. Working support-hand only drills,
running a mile, doing a pull up, dialing in data on a scope. Its hard enough that you don’t want to do it
again. This is the tipping point you
have to find motivation to get past. Let’s
be honest, if we don’t sweat doing it, there’s a higher chance we will stick
with it than if it makes our head pound, limbs shake and stomach threaten to
evacuate from all directions. I hate to
be cliché but if it was easy, everyone would do it. What separates you from the sheep, the victim
and the idiot is that you are willing to take responsibility for your own
life. Part of that is a dedication to improvement
that doesn’t end when things get a little tough. Status
Quo Bias wants you to remain just as you are; in some cases that’s perfectly
fine. When it comes to fitness and
shooting ability, you need to improve and you have to want it more than you
want to remain where you are. You have
to force yourself, and force others to help you force yourself if need be, to
improve. Now’s a good time.
-Aaron Cowan
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