The Availability Heuristic is a mental model that describes the inclination to make decisions based on the most readily available information in our minds, often leading to biased judgments.
The human brain tends to lean on recent or emotionally charged information to make decisions, which is the crux of the Availability Heuristic mental model. This can in many cases lead to biased judgments or skewed decision-making. For example, if we hear on the news about a plane crash, we might temporarily judge air travel to be more dangerous than it statistically is, or if a person regularly watches medical dramas on TV, they may overestimate their own likelihood of encountering a serious medical condition.
The availability of the input to our senses and the availability of the conclusion to our memory are usually correlated - Daniel Kahneman
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