The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
1–10 of 73 posts
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#2> (between 2005 and 2015) 301,797 people in the US were shot dead
Somewhat misleading, given that most of them shot themselves.
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#3Who do they pick when they conduct these surveys? I don't live my life any differently regardless of the relative threat of terrorism vs vehicle accidents vs any other violent crime vs getting struck by a meteor.
Am I really that much of an outlier?
Edit: For those that are downvoting me - I live in a large urban area with large urban area related crime problems that actually has had a terrorism related incident. Mind providing an explanation?
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#4Who do they pick when they conduct these surveys? I don't live my life any differently regardless of the relative threat of terrorism vs vehicle accidents vs any other violent crime vs getting struck by a meteor. Am I really that much of an outlier? Edit: For those that are downvoting me - I live in a large urban area with large urban area related crime problems that actually has had a terrorism related incident. Min…
>> It asks 1,500 adults what they fear most.
Ask 1,500 citizens in Baltimore, St. Louis, Memphis...
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#5Who do they pick when they conduct these surveys? I don't live my life any differently regardless of the relative threat of terrorism vs vehicle accidents vs any other violent crime vs getting struck by a meteor. Am I really that much of an outlier? Edit: For those that are downvoting me - I live in a large urban area with large urban area related crime problems that actually has had a terrorism related incident. Min…
You probably don't watch enough cable "news" where fear and outrage keep you glued to the screen.
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#6> (between 2005 and 2015) 301,797 people in the US were shot dead Somewhat misleading, given that most of them shot themselves.
Yeah I would be very interested in seeing what the statistics are without counting suicides as being "shot dead".
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#7> jihadists killed 94 people inside the United States between 2005 and 2015. During that same time period, 301,797 people in the US were shot dead
> Americans are more afraid of terrorism than they are of guns, despite the fact that guns are 3,210 times more likely to kill them
Er, that's not really how probability works. Sure, it makes some sense but as was pointed out, most of those people shot themselves. Since I don't intend on shooting myself, the probability of me being shot is immediately a fraction of the number quoted in the article.
I'm not afraid of guns because I have the privilege of living in a safe area. I'm a lot more scared of the immediate threats to my well-being, which seem to be distracted drivers [0] and slipping on ice [1].
Admittedly I closed the article after this butchering of statistics, so I don't know if the rest of the article is as misguided.
[0] - There have been several instances where I walked out into a crosswalk but stopped because I could see a car approaching but not slowing down, with the driver staring at their lap.
[1] - I live in Ohio. It snows a lot, but people don't shovel their sidewalks. People walk on the snow and compress it into ice (combined with freezing temps at night) which can persist for a week.
EDIT: Stats folk: is there a term for this? It seems similar to a Bayesian Fallacy but I'm not sure that's exactly correct...
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#8Who do they pick when they conduct these surveys? I don't live my life any differently regardless of the relative threat of terrorism vs vehicle accidents vs any other violent crime vs getting struck by a meteor. Am I really that much of an outlier? Edit: For those that are downvoting me - I live in a large urban area with large urban area related crime problems that actually has had a terrorism related incident. Min…
>> It asks 1,500 adults what they fear most. Ask 1,500 citizens in Baltimore, St. Louis, Memphis...
Having lived in Baltimore for 7 years, I was far more afraid of crossing the street than guns per se as the violent crime was fairly localized until about a year before I moved. That said, guns ranked far higher than terrorism, which is basically down at the bottom of my list with bears and being crushed by vending machines.
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#9As a EU citizen living where guns are essentially banned (in 30yrs I've seen a gun only once - excluding law enforcement) I'm equally scared by both guns and terrorism. Just to outline that the feeling mentioned in the title can be different given your background and social environment.
Re: The psychology of why we're irrationally more scared of terrorism than guns
#10Probably because we use guns to "defend" and express our freedom and terrorism only attacks our freedoms.
No one ever says "hey, I want to be a terrorist." Instead they're using their violence to support a personal righteous cause. Terrorism happens to people - it's not something people do.