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January 26 - June 24, 2020
We are the healthiest, wealthiest, and longest-lived people in history. And we are increasingly afraid. This is one of the great paradoxes of our time.
In Europe and elsewhere, people tremble at the sight of a nuclear reactor but shrug at the thought of having an X-ray—even though X-rays expose them to the radiation they are terrified might leak from a nuclear plant.
banned in sports is the belief that they are so dangerous that not even athletes who know the risks should be allowed to take them. But in many cases, the sports those athletes compete in are far more dangerous than doping. Aerial skiing—to take only one example—requires a competitor to race down a hill, hurtle off a jump, soar through the air, twist, turn, spin, and return to earth safely.
But in country after country—including the United States—cars kill far more people than do handguns.
Childhood is starting to resemble a prison sentence, with children spending almost every moment behind locked doors and alarms, their every movement scheduled, supervised, and controlled. Are they at least safer as a result? Probably not.
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Fear is a fantastic marketing tool, which is why we can’t turn on the television or open a newspaper without seeing it at work.
Of course, private companies and consultants aren’t the only merchants of fear. There are politicians who talk up threats, denounce their opponents as soft or incompetent, and promise to slay the wolf at the door just as soon as we do the sensible thing and elect them.
The basics of dictatorship
The media, too, know the value of fear. The media are in the business of profit, and crowding in the information marketplace means the competition for eyes and ears is steadily intensifying. Inevitably and increasingly, the media turn to fear to protect shrinking market shares because a warning of mortal peril—“A story you can’t afford to miss!”—is an excellent way to get someone’s attention.
Psychologists call this confirmation bias. We all do it. Once a belief is in place, we screen what we see and hear in a biased way that ensures our beliefs are “proven” correct. Psychologists have also discovered that people are vulnerable to something called group polarization—which means that when people who share beliefs get together in groups, they become more convinced that their beliefs are right and they become more extreme in their views. Put confirmation bias, group polarization, and culture together, and we start to understand why people can come to completely different views about
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Habituation generally works brilliantly. The problem with it, as with everything the unconscious mind does, is that it cannot account for science and statistics.
Most experts argue that nuclear power and nuclear waste are not nearly as dangerous as the public thinks they are, but people will not be budged. On the other hand, we pay good money to soak up solar radiation on a tropical beach
the risks of Christmas are actually substantial. And yet these annual warnings are annually ignored, or even played for laughs (exploding gravy!) in the media. Why the discrepancy? Part of the answer is surely the powerful emotional content of Christmas. Christmas isn’t just a Good Thing. It’s a Wonderful Thing. And Gut is sure that Wonderful Things don’t kill.
“Don’t tell us to calm down!” one parent shouted at a public meeting. “The health of our children is at stake.”
So the assumption of political experts is wrong. It isn’t the less informed who are likely to be influenced by fear-driven advertising. It is the more informed.
Learn to meditate and get above your emotions, people!
Why worry about the accuracy of information used to advance a worthy cause?
Dispense with earnest, thoughtful, balanced, well-researched work and turn the message into a big, scary headline.
The power of images to drive risk perceptions is particularly important in light of the media’s proven bias in covering causes of death.
