Information systems face fundamental signal-to-noise problems. Signal is meaningful information; noise is irrelevant or misleading data. As information volume explodes, filtering becomes more important than access. The question isn't "how do I get more information?" but "how do I filter for signal amid overwhelming noise?"

Availability cascades happen when bad things get amplified through media attention. News focuses on rare dramatic events, people see them repeatedly, and availability bias makes these events feel more common than they are. If something comes easily to mind, you overrate its likelihood. This systematically distorts risk perception and policy priorities.

We don't experience the world as it is, but as we predict it to be. The brain constructs conscious experience from scratch using layered predictions built from past experiences, then updates these predictions when sensory input contradicts expectations. What feels like direct perception is actually sophisticated prediction that happens too quickly to notice.