Cascade of available information

The essence of the cascade of available information is a kind of chain reaction that occurs when information is transferred from one person to another. In the preliminary preparation of information by various specialists (psychologists, marketers, SMM specialists, copywriters), it becomes “easily digestible” by the general public, as it has certain accessibility criteria: it is convincing, reasoned, and supported by the opinions of authoritative sources. With this presentation of the fact, not every person will be skeptical of such information and conduct at least a preliminary verification of the truth. Especially this kind of cognitive distortion became common in the heyday of television and social networks. The fact is that in these information resources group thinking prevails and the process of personality identification takes place. Another source of the effect of the cascade of accessible information is the very social nature of man. From time immemorial, a man lived in society, so the main resource of information was the community, partner, in other words, another person (in addition to information received from the world and nature).

The effect of a cascade of available information belongs to the first group of cognitive distortions associated with the problem of an overabundance of information ^[1] . The cause of this kind of distortion is an excessively large amount of information with limited brain resources, so the latter has to cut off some information flows. But for this you need to understand what information to receive, remember, understand and store, and what you can skip. So, public opinion and group behavior become kind of signals about what information is worth trusting.

Cass Sunstein and Timur Kuran, who studied the problem of distorted reactions to risks in politics, became the creators of the term cascade of available information. They note that in the social context "..all heuristic methods are equal, but accessibility is more equal than others." Here, the heuristic method is understood not only as a particular, but also as a judgment.

A study by Sunstein and Kuran considered two cases in which the effect of a cascade of available information is quite pronounced. The first of these occurred in 1979 in the city of Love Canal, New York State: torrential rains eroded toxic waste depots, which caused a strong unpleasant odor to spread around the city, as well as pollution of drinking water. Activists immediately made a fuss about the situation, the corresponding programs were created on television, people gathered for demonstrations and rallies. At the same time, scientists who tried to claim that the danger was exaggerated were ignored. As a result, the authorities spent huge amounts of money on creating special funds to combat pollution; many residents moved to the more favorable regions at the expense of the state. Even today, there is no consensus on what happened in the Love Channel and whether the funds from the state budget were spent correctly. Kuran and Sunstein interpret this event as one of the manifestations of the cascade of available information and call it “pseudo-event”. The second case considered is the so-called “daminoside panic,” which occurred in 1989. Daminoside, aka Alar, is a chemical that was used to control apple growth and improve appearance. The media reported that the drug in large doses causes cancer in rats and mice. Obviously, the public was alarmed. Fear provoked new articles in the press, which, as a result, led to absurd situations: people called and asked if it was safe to pour apple juice into the sewers or if it would be better to take it to a special laboratory, Meryl Streep testified to the US Congress, apple producers carry huge losses, because they began to fear apples ^[2] . Later, the researchers confirmed that a drug such as daminoside does not pose a major danger to humans, only as a possible carcinogen ^[2] .

The effect of a cascade of available information is a natural response of the brain to a large amount of incoming information. As the examples described above show, this can play a trick on a person. The most dangerous is this phenomenon in the hands of terrorists. Over the years of statistical observations, it has been proven that even in countries where terrorist acts are more intense, more people die in car accidents than in terrorist attacks. However, the latter manage to keep entire cities and states in fear, because this topic is constantly discussed in society and in the media, heating the atmosphere ^[2] .

Cognitive Distortion List

Judith S. Beck Cognitive Therapy: A Complete Guide - Per. from English - M .: LLC "I.D. Williams", 2006

Kahneman D. Think slowly ... decide quickly. - Litres, 2018