Concept · Cognitive Bias: Modern cognitive/philosophical fallacies
Thought-terminating cliché
Origin: Lifton, 1961
Biological Parallel
Premature convergence in evolutionary algorithms—populations settling on local fitness optima because variation stopped too soon, unable to reach higher peaks across fitness valleys. Genetic canalization reduces phenotypic variance, making populations robust to environmental perturbations but unable to explore new adaptive landscapes when conditions shift. Thought-terminating clichés are cognitive canalization: they stabilize belief systems at the cost of adaptive flexibility when new information arrives.