Context Blindness in Human Life

Every aspect of human life—from food production and water access to energy, healthcare, and communication—rests on a vast but largely invisible network of shared human capabilities. This network, which can be understood as a “societal capability sharing system,” is the underlying infrastructure that makes daily life possible. Yet, despite its centrality to survival, it remains largely unrecognized in how individuals think, decide, and act.

The attached article brings that hidden system into focus. It first shows that humans routinely overlook this critical-to-life context even as they depend on it at every moment. It then examines the psychology of this context-blindness—why people fail to perceive the systems that sustain them, how this blindness shapes behavior, and what risks it creates for societies operating under increasingly complex and fragile conditions.

Context Blindness--Article 2023.pdf

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