Terrorism and Irrational Fear

Jonah Lehrer, over at The Frontal Cortex, makes some interesting points about people’s reaction to terrorism. We do seem to be irrationally afraid of it (and this irrational fear is of course well exploited by terrorists themselves). Statistically, as he points out, the numbers of people killed in terrorist acts in a year is not much more than the number of Amercians who accidentally drown in their bathtubs each year, and yet there is no Department of Bathtub Security.

 

One person who comments on the piece writes that the difference is that in one case there is a human agency (the terrorists) actively working to kill people, while in the other, the causes of death (car crashes, bathtub drownings) are pure chance and random events. But as Jonah retorts, while the basis of the fear may be valid – terrorists do blow up trains and planes – the fear itself remains irrational, simply because it is so very unlikely to happen to you (I am talking about a "you" who lives in a capital city in the West, of course – statistically speaking, a "you" living in Baghdad is much more likely to suffer a terrorist act).

 

I think he’s right, we do behave irrationally over the risks – and this is a fact exploited not only by the terrorists, but by the authorities who seem to be more intent on amplifying the fear than damping it down. I really do feel that we are beginning to live in the world of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.