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Status quo bias reveals that human decision-making is not a neutral weighing of options but is fundamentally warped by the gravitational pull of whatever currently exists. The bias persists even when switching costs are zero, suggesting it is not rational caution but a deep cognitive distortion rooted in loss aversion — the potential losses from change loom larger than equivalent gains. This means whoever controls the default controls the outcome, making default-setting one of the most powerful and underappreciated levers in policy and design.
