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Originally Posted by aceventura3
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Your family is in more danger from automobies than it is from terrorists. By orders of magnitude. Massive orders of magnitude.
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That is why I drive. I am a control freak, in addition to other problems I have. |
Ran into this:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archive...ed_risk_1.html
which is a wonderful little treatise on risk. Basically, it explains what most of the major errors people have with misestimating risk.
People underestimate:
Any risk they choose to take.
Any risk they feel cannot be reduced.
Any common risk.
Any risk they are used to.
Any risk they feel personal control over.
Any risk that is rarely talked about.
Any risk that is non-intentional.
People overestimate:
Any risk they don't have a choice about.
Any risk they feel can or should be reduced.
Any rare risk.
Any risk they are not used to.
Any risk they don't have personal control over.
Any risk that is commonly talked about.
Any risk that is intentional.
"Cars are far more dangerous than terrorists, so I drive" is a classic example of this. By choosing to drive and taking personal control, you reduce the feeling of risk. Driving deaths and risks are not that reported, and driving is a common risk, so that also reduces the feeling of risk. People don't consider driving deaths as "solveable", so that reduces the feeling of risk. Most car accidents are accidents, not done intentionally.
On the other hand, terrorists deaths are out of your immediate control. You don't choose to take on terrorist risk. It is rare and outside of your experience. People consider it solveable. And it is in the news. And it is intentional.
So we get people with a seriously whacked up and error prone feelings about the relative risks of traffic accidents and terrorist attacks to the security of one's nation.