Facing The Fear Of Fear Paradox

The Age

Saturday June 7, 2008

Thuy On

Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear

By Dan Gardner

Scribe, $35

Dan Gardner's book is a plea for common sense and logic to prevail, writes Thuy On.

WHY IS IT, QUERIES DAN GARDNER, that, in Western countries at least, we are the healthiest and safest people in history and yet we are increasingly afraid? With the help of Paul Slovic, a pioneer of risk perception research, Gardner's book investigates this paradox.

The starting point for understanding why we worry is a look at the human brain with its two systems of thought: Feeling and Reason. The former is a "prehistoric refugee" whose intuitive, fast-acting reflexes helped our distant ancestors hunt and avoid being hunted. The second is slow, calculated and rational. These two systems interact but work semi-independently of one another and the friction between them causes us to fear minor risks and ignore greater ones. For instance, despite "Axis of Evil" propaganda, death via terrorism is negligible compared with death via obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

But though we know this to be true, we are so swayed by endless media noise that we end up falling prey to "unreasoning fear" and worry disproportionately about being hijacked on planes.

Risk is a plea for logic and common sense to prevail. Gardner reminds us that spin doctors in media, corporations and politics profit from fear-mongering - their primary goal is to sell products, enlist supporters or win votes, hence the bamboozling of the public with dodgy or skewed statistics designed to incite fear. Written in a reader-friendly fashion, with comprehensive research to back its claims, Risk is compelling reading.

© 2008 The Age

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