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I don’t think this is accurate. People are often frightened of unlikely things so long as they feel they can do something about it. But when a threat seems inco
by stonecraftwolf 7y ago
I don’t think this is accurate. People are often frightened of unlikely things so long as they feel they can do something about it. But when a threat seems incomprehensible and they feel powerless to do anything about it (at least partially bc they do not understand it), they will shut it out and shut down rather than confront it, because it overwhelms their ability to cope with it emotionally and paralyzes them.
Incomprehensibility and powerlessness are overwhelming emotions. They flood the nervous system, so people shut them out in order to be able to continue to function on a daily basis. It’s the same reason why people continue to ignore climate change.
It’s not a rational problem, or a probabilistic one. It’s a problem of emotion. It’s a trauma problem.
- luckylion 7y agoAre you sure? It seems to me that most people just have more important stuff to worry about. Paying taxes, rent, buying food, health issues, personal safety etc. Privacy seems to be a luxury topic, and thus is more important to those that need not worry about the fundamentals.
- specialist 7y agoMarshall McLuhan coined the phrase "autoamputation" to describe the phenomenon of shutting down when overstimulated. I don't know if his insights have since been confirmed.
- nostrademons 7y agoIf people are actually powerless to combat a threat, it's rational to shut it out. There's no sense worrying about things you can't control. The irrational response is to obsess about it and take mental energy away from things you can control. (This is also similar to why we don't worry about an asteroid striking the earth, a pandemic wiping out humanity, or nuclear war. There is little that we personally can do, so why spend mental energy?)