Rational and Irrational Fear

Posted on | January 17, 2009 | 2 Comments

Shanta Rohse points to a piece on the Freakonomics blog – The Cost of Fearing Strangers – by Stephen Dubner.

Why do we fear the unknown more than the known?………it probably has to do with the heuristics — the shortcut guesses — our brains use to solve problems, and the fact that these heuristics rely on the information already stored in our memories.

And what gets stored away? Anomalies — the big, rare, “black swan” events that are so dramatic, so unpredictable, and perhaps world-changing, that they imprint themselves on our memories and con us into thinking of them as typical, or at least likely, whereas in fact they are extraordinarily rare.

Technorati Tags: shanta rohse, freakonomics, stephen j. dubner, irrationality, rationality

Category: counterknowledge, logic, safety

Comments

2 Responses to “Rational and Irrational Fear”

David Gilmour
January 17th, 2009 @ 7:10 pm

He’s right. I spent many years working in the nuclear industry, where safety risks are very carefully assessed.

Working in that field makes you realise how odd people’s perception of risk really is, particularly in regard to road traffic accidents. In fact, I was saddened last week to hear of the death in a road accident of one of my ex-colleagues from those days. It seems odd to me that many who are very concerned about nuclear power risks don’t think twice about travelling on the roads.

I’m convinced that study of risk could help engage students with maths, and improve relevance. I like the sound of the Risk Roadshow being run by the Millenium Maths Project in this area.
John Connell
January 18th, 2009 @ 11:47 am

Just like those who are perfectly happy to drive to the airport but who are scared to get on a plane…….