A cognitive tendency to assume that things will continue as they always have, leading people to underestimate the likelihood or impact of a disaster. It causes individuals to ignore warning signs, delay action, or rationalize unusual situations as non-threatening.
In gardening, this bias can appear when a plant parent overlooks early signs of pests, disease, or environmental stress because “nothing like that has happened before.” Normalcy bias can also affect seasonal decisions, such as delaying frost protection because past weather patterns were mild.
This bias contrasts with proactive observation and intervention, where changes in plant health or environment are treated as meaningful signals rather than anomalies.
See Also
