"Availability cascading" = ?
Although it is an obscure term for a commonly known concept, “an availability cascade is a self-reinforcing cycle that explains the development of certain kinds of collective beliefs.
“A novel idea or insight, usually one that seems to explain a complex process in a simple or straightforward manner, gains rapid currency in the popular discourse by its very simplicity and by its apparent insightfulness.
“Its rising popularity triggers a chain reaction within the social network: individuals adopt the new insight because other people within the network have adopted it, and on its face it seems plausible. The reason for this increased use and popularity of the new idea involves both the availability of the previously obscure term or idea, and the need of individuals using the term or idea to appear to be current with the stated beliefs and ideas of others, regardless of whether they in fact fully believe in the idea that they are expressing".
This would explain the misinformation we often see in the "historian" publishing community concerning the alleged need to spread slavery and the motivations for Southern secession, the establishment of the Confederate Constitution, rationale for Lincoln's suspension of the Constitution, and the war he started against the Confederacy.
“Their need for social acceptance, and the apparent sophistication of the new insight, overwhelm their critical thinking.
“It has been claimed by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that scientific opinion on climate change might be the result of an availability cascade.
“The idea of the availability cascade was first developed by Timur Kuran and Cass Sunstein, building upon the concept of information cascades and on the availability bias as identified by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.” (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).
Two important notes: 1. Cass Sunstein works for Obama
2. The entire idea of the spread of slavery to the territories only gained currency in Lincoln's debates and his speeches(especially Boston) as a conceptual political topic, not supported by any census data on slave ownership in the actual territories. .
As you know, the actual spread was a bogus concept. But the denial of right to private property as a failure of Constitutional rights disturbed all Southerners, slave owner or not.