3 ms·

We have a "safety at any cost" mentality in society, which limits development in multiple areas. This was not the case 50 years ago, but it is today. There i

We have a "safety at any cost" mentality in society, which limits development in multiple areas. This was not the case 50 years ago, but it is today. There is a healthy respect for safety, but what we have now is constant fear mongering across society. Not just nuclear power, but immigration, stranger danger, helicopter parents, etc. All brought to you by the 24 hours news cycle that makes money by making sure everyone stays paranoid.

zaq_xsw 7y ago
It's worse than that though, because, for example, nuclear power is significantly safer than other technologies currently in use[1][2], and as another example, immigrants (including illegal immigrants) are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens in the United States[3][4], at least for several generations (they asymptotically approach native levels). So I think we're fighting a couple of battles here: fear-mongering and misinformation/ignorance, and I guess they go hand-in-hand. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2017/05/hypothetical-number-of-deaths-from-energy-production.png https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2017/05/hypothetical-numb... [2] Kharecha Pushker A, 2013 [3] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1078087417704974?journalCode=uarb https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/107808741770497... [4] https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/06/donald-trump/trump-immigration-claim-has-no-data-back-it/ https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul...