In 1978, researchers asked people to estimate how often dozens of causes of death occur. People clearly overestimated striking, newsworthy deaths like tornadoes, homicides and accidents, and underestimated quiet killers like diabetes and stroke. The more easily an example springs to mind, the more common it feels: the availability heuristic.
Remembering is not replaying a recording — it is rebuilding. Each time you recall a memory, it becomes temporarily malleable and can be altered before being stored again. That is why two people can sincerely remember the same event… differently.
In 2003, Johnson and Goldstein compared European countries. Where you must tick a box to become a donor, consent rates ranged from 4% to 28%. Where you're a donor by default unless you opt out, they topped 85%. People aren't more generous on one side; most simply stick with whatever option was chosen for them.