Risk
In the year following September 11th 1,595 people died on America’s roads, as a direct result of having fled the airports to be safe from terrorism.
Worldwide, there were 79 unprovoked shark attacks in 2000, compared with 58 in 1999 and 54 the year before. Poorly wired Christmas tree lights claim more victims than sharks.
Every day we suffer a barrage of information about the threat of terrorism, war and apocalypse. But while we are preoccupied by our fears, the real risk of these obscure annihilating events taking place is about as likely as winning the lottery.
So why do we live in a ‘culture of fear’ despite being the healthiest and safest people in history?
Take a look at these quick experiments to discover the psychology and sociology behind our fears.