The Science of Fear: How the Culture of Fear Manipulates Your Brain

by Daniel Gardner

For social conservatives, that cluster of leaves is a symbol of the anarchic liberalism they despise, and they will consider any evidence that marijuana causes harm to be vindication—while downplaying or simply ignoring evidence to the contrary. 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 which risks are frightening and which aren’t worth a second thought.