The Modern Peril of the Availability Heuristic
The availability heuristic teaches us that easily recalled information feels more probable. But in an era of information abundance, this bias has evolved: what we don't see—when we expect to—becomes evidence of impossibility. This essay introduces 'UnAvailability Bias'—the tendency to treat absent information as proof of nonexistence, ignoring institutional, legal, or cognitive constraints that explain the absence. From conspiracy theories surrounding high-profile arrests to medical misdiagnosis of rare conditions, the pattern repeats: silence is interpreted as deception, restraint as conspiracy. When information is unlimited, its absence becomes proof.
