Heuristic Traps

Heuristics are aids to decision-making that we use routinely in daily life – using patterns, trail-and-error, rule of thumb to make subconscious and minor decisions in daily life. They are very useful in ensuring that we don’t have to consider every single decision that we make and thus spend our whole day having to run through decision-making cycles.

They’re great, have a lot of use (I’m incredibly lazy so they make life so much easier for me!) and can add to the danger in the mountains. A number of writers have commented on heuristic traps – there is a lot of information about them on the internet; some mention four traps, others six – and all comment on how they can lead us into danger. The six that I’ve been taught about are as follows:

1. Familiarity – ‘If I’ve done it before then it’s what I should do now.’ Just because a setting or as scenario was safe before does not automatically mean that it is safe now.; the classic is the snow slope that was safe yesterday…snow movement, temperature change, wind, precipitationetc etc can all mean that it’s now dangerous.

2. Authority aka ‘instructor halo’ – ie credible expert opinion – ‘if the leader says it’s good, then I’ll accept that decision’. The leader probably is right most of the time but they are as human as the rest of us. Feel free to question the leader if you’re not comfortable.

3. Social proof – ‘other people have done it, so I should be able to do it’. This is not always the case (witness me at Almscliff any time I’m there!). Just because someone else made a particular move on greasy rock or crossed what looks to be a dangerous snow slope doesn’t meant that it’s safe for you.

4. Commitment / consistency – ‘I should remain consistent with my prior opinions and actions.’ Just because you made a decision in a similar risky setting doesn’t automatically mean that it’s the right decision again.

5. Liking / conformity – ‘If someone I like is doing it then it’s what I should do to be accepted.’ We all want to conform (it’s a societal norm) and our mums reminded us that we don’t always need to. Just because the rest of the group think it’s right, doesn’t automatically mean that it is right.

6. Scarcity – ‘we’ve travelled all this way:’, ‘it’s our only opportunity this year’ are thoughts we’ve all had…if the weather is howling, the route isn’t in good nick or you’re just not feeling it why take an unnecessary risk just because of a long car journey or no other chances are on the horizon?

Hope this helps.