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Fear of terrorists sells better than fear of ice storms. Especially for the states (and representatives) that the ice storm is 100 year. Dams fail, and when th
by smileysteve 6y ago
Fear of terrorists sells better than fear of ice storms.
Especially for the states (and representatives) that the ice storm is 100 year. Dams fail, and when they fail, they don't affect the people that didn't want to live near a dam.
- bumby 6y agoSo is it the “randomness” of terrorism that causes us to overweight the risk? It seems like we’re just really bad at thinking clearly about low probability / high severity risks
- vinger 6y agoThe directness of terrorism causes us to overweight the risk. The dam flooding isn't random, its an unfrequent event that will occur so it is something we should prepare for.
- bumby 6y agoI’ve often wondered if it’s a similar incentive misalignment with executives and politicians that helps ignore these low frequency events. CEOs are graded quarter-to-quarter and politicians every 2-4 years. Low probability events (plane crashes, infrastructure failures, etc.) may not ever happen during their tenure, incentivizing them to defund preparing for them to favor other programs, understanding full well they’re bound to occur
- arwhatever 6y agoBruce Schneider article claims people fear terrorism disproportionately to the risk because it is intentional and directed https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/01/the_comparative.html https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/01/the_comparati...
- pishpash 6y agoNot only that, it is the whole point of terrorism, to trigger psychological bugs in humans relating to risk assessment.
- arwhatever 6y ago*schneier