Let’s begin with a few introductions to the Just World hypothesis (or theory, or phenomenon):

• The Just World Theory by Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez
• Just World Hypothesis by Liz Carmona et al.
• Just-world phenomenon on Wikipedia

You can probably tell that I find the Just World hypothesis rather disgusting. There’s more to it than the obvious “she were askin’ fer it!” aspect, though: I think a lot of people fall back on a Just World outlook to justify ignoring threats.

Let’s start with one of my favourite hobby-horses:

“Oh, I don’t need to worry about violent crime, I live in a nice neighbourhood.”

I guess there’s something magical about high property values that repels muggers and rapists. Sarcasm aside, this is the Just World hypothesis hidden behind a little bit of middle-class self-righteousness. I live in a nice neighbourhood, which means I deserve to do so. (After all, this is a Just World, and if I didn’t deserve it I wouldn’t live here.) That confirms my opinion that I’m a Good Person. Now, in this Just World, violent crime only happens to those who deserve it — namely, Bad People. Since I’m a Good Person, violent crime can’t happen to me — I don’t deserve it.

Incidentally, put yourself into the mindset of this sort of person if, through bad luck and/or bad planning, they actually do get attacked. They’re not just getting punched in the face: their whole world-view is being violently destroyed.

Now, the problem with this Just World outlook is that it isn’t supported by the data. Consider, for instance, the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami. Are you really going to tell me that the roughly two million people killed, injured, or displaced had it coming? I find that somewhat difficult to believe.

Just World thinking gets even more obnoxious when it leaks into politics. First, Just Worlders tend to oppose any legislation (or lack thereof) that allows people to deal with problems on an individual basis. Individual preparation is anathema to the Just World mindset: it shouldn’t matter what you do about something, it’s all about whether you deserve it or not. So, Just Worlders crank down on whatever freedoms they can find that let people address their own problems, whether that means smoking pot to deal with chemotherapy or owning a handgun to deal with burglars.

Second, Just Worlders have to address the problems they fear in a nebulous, broad-strokes approach that doesn’t threaten their dessert-based world view. This is where we get shit like Prohibition — instead of accepting personal responsibility for how they behave while drunk, Just Worlders ban alcohol. Now anyone who drinks is obviously a Bad Person (after all, they broke the law!) and deserves what they get.

It’s easy enough to fall into the Just World mindset. It’s a fairly short step from “Failure to prepare on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part” to “You must have made some horrible mistake in preparation, therefore you had it coming”. Preparation mitigates disaster, it doesn’t prevent it. The overriding lesson taught by reality is that shit happens — from the three laws of thermodynamics on down.

But if shit’s gonna happen, you’ll be much happier if you had the foresight to bring an umbrella.