Too serious to take seriously
This is a concept I often find myself trying to articulate in political discussions. You have a situation that everyone openly acknowledges, but it is so entrenched that people may paradoxically behave as though it were completely unimportant.
As a contrived example, for centuries the people of Helmetvania have all worn 6-foot-wide spherical helmets. There are lots of car accidents, neck problems are endemic, and people often complain about how silly it is to wear helmets. The hot topic in this year's election is whether non-helmet-wearing should be addressed by longer sentences, or better education on the importance of helmets.
It's somewhat related to the frog in slowly boiling water, or to not seeing the wood for the trees, but what I'm talking about is not a failure of perception; rather, it's a failure to take one's own perceptions seriously when they seem to be at odds with the world.
Are there good words, phrases or even extended references for this idea?
Solution 1:
How about "the elephant in the living room"? This refers to something that everyone ought to be talking about, but no one is.
Solution 2:
This sounds like an instance of social cognitive bias. Depending on the specifics of the situation, different processes may be influencing the situation. In general, you could talk about groupthink.
- The false consensus effect is the tendency for people to overestimate how much others agree with them.
- Shared information bias means group members spend more time and energy discussing information that everyone is already familiar with (the situation that everyone acknowledges) but less time on information that only some members are aware of (suggestions for addressing the situation).
- Optimism bias means you are over-optimistic, focus on pleasing outcomes rather than ones which might make you uneasy.
- In normalcy bias, you refuse to consider a disaster which has never happened before.
- The mere exposure effect causes people to be unduly fond of things just because it is familiar to them.
- Having to give up an object may cause greater discomfort than what you could gain by acquiring it, and may cause loss aversion.
- The endowment effect is similar, making people demand more to give something up than what they would be willing to pay to acquire it.
- Functional fixedness limits you to use an object only in the way it is traditionally used.
- Conservatism or regressive bias means you overestimate high values and likelihoods and underestimate low values and likelihoods.
All of these terms (and other cognitive biases) may be applicable in different situations. I would choose a term depending on the situation and the type of audience you are addressing. Go from the general cognitive bias or groupthink to one of the more specific terms depending on how detailed you want to be.
I think another nice option is ostrich effect, which means ignoring an obvious situation. Or just speak about being in denial.
Solution 3:
The concept seems akin to the story of The Emperor's New Clothes, a tale by Hans Christian Andersen.
As this article in Wikipedia discusses, the story involves a pretentious emperor who wants the ultimate in fashion. He is fooled by con artists into believing that they have constructed clothing that is gorgeous, but people who are too stupid or unworthy will not be able to see it.
The swindlers pretend to drape the Emperor in the magic clothing. He cannot see it, but dare not reveal it. The Emperor then parades through the streets, with courtiers and subjects oohing and aahing over the fine outfit. Finally, a young child, who is unconcerned with what people think of him, points out that the emperor is naked.
SUPPLEMENT This story is akin to the proverb there's none so blind as those who will not see
A charming counterpoint is a cartoon by Gahan Wilson, depicting an artist painting in the open air. A bystander is looking puzzled at the canvas, which depicts monsters and grisly scenes, while the actual landscape is simply trees. The artist explains, I paint what I see.
Solution 4:
From your description it appears that you are referring to the concept of a social or traditional taboo. In this case the taboo is represented by the inviolability of the centuries old custom of wearing the big helmets despite the obvious drawbacks.
A social or religious custom prohibiting or restricting a particular practice or forbidding association with a particular person, place, or thing:
Source: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com