Bruce Schneier: Virginia Tech Lesson- Rare Risks Breed Irrational Responses

[AmericanWeiner]

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2007/05/securitymatters_0517

Great article that I think most people should read

[ringworm]

that was a good article
We tend to exaggerate spectacular, strange and rare events, and downplay ordinary, familiar and common ones.

i was talking to a guy the other about the amount of insane drivers on the road, he said its rising every day, people tailgating, lane switching at high speeds and close quarters, then i asked him if he remembered the numerous cars he passed or got passsed by that were driving properly, he understood my point then

you only remember the worst and rarely bring up the normal

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

It's an interesting article, and it makes a lot of sense, but I guess it's too bad that it didn't really propose solutions to the problem. You can't really order news stations to de-spectacularize their evening headlines, and if teaching the masses to think logically was so easy, it would've been done a long time ago.