Can You Get Fear “Wrong” ?
By Barry Ritholtz - January 13th, 2011, 3:35PM
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The chart above, via Information is Beautiful, shows the intention of media mentions of specific deadly “fears,” from Swine Flu to Killer Wasps.
Of course, the reality of what actually kills us is totally different — the most recent “wrongful fear” being the non-existent link between vaccines and autism.
Killer wasps are responsible for 100 deaths annually, but are mentioned 11,000 times int he media. Meanwhile, Automobiles kill over 50,000 Americans annually.
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January 13th, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Psychologically, it is easier to accept automobile deaths, for two reasons: they constantly occur at a relatively consisten rate, and the car is something that allows for the illusion of control. Everybody thinks they are above average at driving, and thinks they can avoid accidents. Killer wasps, you don’t control, and maybe you can’t avoid…
January 13th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
It is a great graph, though it does assume that there really is no link between violent video games and real world violence, and also that mobile phones don’t cause any tumors. I agree that at worst the numbers are probably small for both causes, but I wouldn’t assume the number is exactly zero.
January 13th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
500k?
January 13th, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Thank all ye godz for Swine Flu! I got round-trip airfare to tokyo for $350! That was great.
I asked Kim Jong-Il to threaten SK with merciless military action to get ticket prices down again, but it didn’t work.
January 13th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Actually, it was SARS, but yah you know what I mean….
January 13th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Can You Get Fear “Wrong” ?
Most fear is wrong
January 13th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
“…Killer wasps are responsible for 11,000 deaths annually….”
Are you fucking busting my balls, or what….? Is this a fact…? 11,000 mother fucking deaths annually….?
How many deaths is the Taliban responsible for annually…? I mean really “killer mother fucking wasps” 11,000 deaths annually… they seem to be more efficient than the Viet Cong, however not quite as efficient as Stalin…
You’re freaking me out man…..!
~~~
BR: No, thats 11,000 mentions — I’ll clarify above
January 13th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
First Killer Bee’s, Now we have Killer Wasp’s ??
January 13th, 2011 at 7:28 pm
First Killer Bee’s, Now we have Killer Wasp’s ??
Yes, those right wing fundamentalists that the left is so afraid of. As Barry shows, there is no need for people to buy into the media’s scare tactics ;)
January 13th, 2011 at 7:48 pm
Seeing the Millennium Bug on the left side of the chart reminds me that WE NEED TO FEAR THE UNIX EPOCH BUG! Fear it!
Or just deal with it.
Without the fear the Millennium Bug might have been worse. Getting an organization to patch a mainframe application? Can you imagine that happening without the TeeVee News shouting in the CEO’s ear?
January 13th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Wasps cause 90-100 deaths in the US annually….
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/169324-overview
There’s probably a joke in there about other ethnic groups, but I’m not going there….
January 13th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Wasps and bees cause 30-120 deaths yearly in the United States.
January 13th, 2011 at 9:31 pm
I asked myself; “What is the Z axis (depth) of this nice 3D graph?”
and then I realized it’s just one of the many dimensions of stupidity.
~~~
BR: Go to the interactive site and you can alter the Z axis
January 13th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
We live in one of the most obese countries in the world, and obesity is the number one killer.
My point isn’t to make moral judgments, but to point out the obvious. We believe what we need to believe, and we ignore what we need to ignore. If I worried about dying in a car accident, instead of being blown up to Al-Qaeda, I wouldn’t be able to drive to work in the morning.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:28 pm
Oh man, does THAT bring back a bad memory: When i was about 15 (WAY before cell phones) i worked with a bunch of Puerto Ricans who did landscaping. One day the boss sent me and two adult guys (one about 30, the other about 40 who drove the truck) to a big field behind some remote property out in the boondocks (took about 45 minutes to get there). We unload the big Gravely machines – precursor to these
(http://www.drpower.com/twoStepInquiry.aspx?X=1&Name=Field_Brush_Mower_G&src=AW70653XE3113309&cm_mmc=Google-_-brand-field+brush-_-dr+mower-_-dr+lawn+mowers&crcat=brand-field+brush%7edr+mower&crsource=adwords&crkw=dr+lawn+mowers&crcampaign=7101034505&gclid=CJLAvNzWuKYCFcqC5QodAh7gIw)
and the two men start out on either end of a probably acre rectangle. They mow all morning, we break for lunch, and they start again. About 3 o’clock the 30 yr old guy screams and falls to the ground his machine still running (but not moving). By the time we got to him he was unconscious and we were in a small cloud of bees. We grabbed his arms arms and drag him as fast as we can toward the truck – pure adrenaline. Yeah we got a couple stings, but THIS guy, we had to tear his pants off because the mower cut a big ground nest of some wasp/bee/hornet and they went up his pants! His legs were so swollen and the guy was OUT, breathin’ real shallow but fast, i was scared shitless. i ran to the house to call an ambulance and our boss. It was a while before anyone showed up (a good half hour). Man.
i think the guy lived.
January 13th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
Good Stuff Barry
January 14th, 2011 at 7:00 am
The legend says ()= “number of deaths” not “mentions”
January 14th, 2011 at 9:42 am
I suppose it’s churlish to observe that the top three aggregate searches are also responsible for the most actual deaths and in the approximate magnitude.
By the way, anytime you really feel serious about wanting to reduce car fatalities, propose (i) much tougher DWI laws (like murder instead of manslaughter for a death, two strikes and you lose your license, etc.) and (ii) that car occupants should wear helmets mandatorily. Those two (especially (ii)) would save a whole lotta’ lives. Good luck.