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> the fear is so disproportional to the threat Sadly, this is true for so much of American culture re: our current politics and social fears. We live in a cult

> the fear is so disproportional to the threat Sadly, this is true for so much of American culture re: our current politics and social fears. We live in a culture that explicitly governs on and trafficks in fear. I don’t think we ever got out of fear mode after 9/11, but reasonable people can disagree here. Also, people aren’t just thinking about themselves, they’re taking into account the risk of transmission to a loved one who’s in a higher-risk age group. I’d hate to contract coronavirus and pass it on to my parents who’re in their 60’s.

NicolasGorden 7y ago
It's odd, the safer our societies become, the more fearful people get. I used to live in a 2nd world country and it seems people were less fearful there, even if they had more to fear. It's like we collectively somehow miss having real things to worry about. I guess the biggest issues in first world countries (heart disease, cancer, suicide, car accidents), are mostly things that boil down to individual internal battles related to our daily choices. And improving those is a humbling, long and not particularly glamorous process. It's grappling with the millions of shortcomings we all know we have and we all know how to fix.
- refurb 7y ago
  It's odd, the safer our societies become, the more fearful people get. My theory is the law of diminishing returns. We’ve made incredible progress in identifying and minimizing risks of disease and accident. Once we deal with those, we go down the list to the next one. At this point, we’re working on things that are relatively minor risks, but still treat them as if they were high risks.
- andrekandre 7y ago
  > It's odd, the safer our societies become, the more fearful people get. I used to live in a 2nd world country and it seems people were less fearful there, even if they had more to fear. It's like we collectively somehow miss having real things to worry about. maybe it’s akin to allergic reactions... where certain people who grow up unaccustomed to certain allergens end up with their immune system overreacting... maybe in our society, in everyday life we aren’t accustomed to certain stimuli and even relatively (to other countries) small shocks can lead to overreaction... just an idea...
  - NicolasGorden 7y ago
    Wow, what a way of thinking about it. Truly thank you. Helps me understand more.

NicolasGorden 7y ago

It's odd, the safer our societies become, the more fearful people get. I used to live in a 2nd world country and it seems people were less fearful there, even if they had more to fear. It's like we collectively somehow miss having real things to worry about. I guess the biggest issues in first world countries (heart disease, cancer, suicide, car accidents), are mostly things that boil down to individual internal battles related to our daily choices. And improving those is a humbling, long and not particularly glamorous process. It's grappling with the millions of shortcomings we all know we have and we all know how to fix.

refurb 7y ago
It's odd, the safer our societies become, the more fearful people get. My theory is the law of diminishing returns. We’ve made incredible progress in identifying and minimizing risks of disease and accident. Once we deal with those, we go down the list to the next one. At this point, we’re working on things that are relatively minor risks, but still treat them as if they were high risks.
andrekandre 7y ago
> It's odd, the safer our societies become, the more fearful people get. I used to live in a 2nd world country and it seems people were less fearful there, even if they had more to fear. It's like we collectively somehow miss having real things to worry about. maybe it’s akin to allergic reactions... where certain people who grow up unaccustomed to certain allergens end up with their immune system overreacting... maybe in our society, in everyday life we aren’t accustomed to certain stimuli and even relatively (to other countries) small shocks can lead to overreaction... just an idea...
- NicolasGorden 7y ago
  Wow, what a way of thinking about it. Truly thank you. Helps me understand more.