It appears that we have a "negativity bias" which is understood to be related to survival.
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-09004-002
"Abstract
Hypothesizes that there is a general bias, based on both innate predispositions and experience, in animals and humans, to give greater weight to negative. This is manifested in 4 ways: (a) negative potency (negative entities are stronger than the equivalent positive entities), (b) steeper negative gradients (the negativity of negative events grows more rapidly with approach to them in space or time than does the positivity of positive events, (c) negativity dominance (combinations of negative and positive entities yield evaluations that are more negative than the algebraic sum of individual subjective valences would predict), and (d) negative differentiation."
So, if we see a piece of rope and mistake it for a snake, we give it a wide berth.
If we see a snake and mistake it for a piece of rope, it might bite us.
Therefore, erring on the side of caution might mean that we get to live another day.
Dennis
EDIT:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/a...-negative-bias