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| The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger | 
 enlarge | Author: Daniel Gardner
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.00
You Save: $11.95 (48%)
New (31) Used (9) from $12.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 13343
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0525950621
Dewey Decimal Number: 152.46
EAN: 9780525950622
ASIN: 0525950621
Publication Date: July 17, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From terror attacks to the war on terror, real estate bubbles to the price of oil, sexual predators to poisoned food from China, our list of fears is ever-growing. And yet, we are the safest and healthiest humans in history. Irrational fear seems to be taking over, often with tragic results. For example, in the months after 9/11, when people decided to drive instead of flybelieving they were avoiding riskroad deaths rose by more than 1,500.
In this fascinating, lucid, and thoroughly entertaining examination of how humans process risk, journalist Dan Gardner had the exclusive cooperation of Paul Slovic, the world renowned risk-science pioneer, as he reveals how our hunter gatherer brains struggle to make sense of a world utterly unlike the one that made them. Filled with illuminating real world examples, interviews with experts, and fast-paced, lean storytelling, The Science of Fear shows why it is truer than ever that the worst thing we have to fear is fear itself.
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| Customer Reviews:
Interesting read August 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book definitely covers the science of fear, an in depth look at why we are the way we are and why we do the things we do. It will make you rethink just how much "free-will" you really have and how much your surroundings affect your decisions without you realizing it.
 And the odds are . . .? July 21, 2008
27 out of 28 found this review helpful
Dan Gardner's concerned about how we handle fear. In North America, of course, a single event, the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon generated a new level of fear in the population. So unexpected and abrupt was use of commercial aircraft in a terrorist assault that an avoidance of flying was the immediate and widespread reaction. Gardner, however, wants to consider the event and the reaction in a more rational perspective. He notes at the outset of the book that the chance of dying in auto incidents is far higher than that of flying. As the statistics proved - since nearly 1600 additional auto deaths - about half of those lost at the World Trade Centre - were added to the annual total in the following year. Gardner taps into psychology and the field of risk assessment in this fascinating study of how we deal with fear. We aren't doing a very good job of it.
For millions of years animals relied on quick responses for survival. Reaction to potential danger or a possible meal left no time, nor need, for reflecting. Act fast or expire. That kind of brain is now called the limbic system, or "lizard brain". Evolution granted humans a chance to build on that foundation to produce a "thinking" part of the brain. The limbic system is still in place, however, and issuing commands we are rarely aware of. Psychologists, says Gardner, call these System One and System Two. The author, in the best journalist's style, calls these The Gut and The Head. The Gut reacts to crisis situations quickly and effectively. The Head follows along later at a more deliberate pace - if it gets any voice at all.
Gardner is eager to have us understand how these Systems work. He contends that we are carrying a reaction system founded on our ancestors' time on the African savannah. Our brains haven't adapted to the fast-paced, high technology world around us. We are reacting almost entirely with The Gut, and we are making serious mistakes as a result. Are we truly under threat from the things we claim to fear? He cites numerous cases, from the fear of "man-made" chemicals through the spectre of cancer to the possibility of our children being assaulted by strangers. Each of the topics is introduced with our given views - usually captured by polls, then carefully assessed by examining the real odds. In every case, the important things to consider almost certainly haven't been. The breast cancer campaigns have uniformly overlooked the role of age in determining the likelihood of its occurrence.
The calculations leave little doubt that we are far too often looking at threats with little consideration of their true nature. Why are we reacting so readily with The Gut instead of with The Head? In no small part, Gardner argues, media, politicians and industry play a significant part. Media, anxious to sell its products, emphasizes the violent, the extreme and the bizarre. The result, of course, is that's what captures our attention. The bombardment of such stories, often unthinkingly repeated by politicians, is a reinforcement of The Gut's reaction to this kind of information. Never seeing a rational analysis of such news, we lose any sense of proportion about what is truly important. We rarely find the opportunity to consider an issue rationally before the next one is upon us.
Gardner is not simply playing a new form of "scare" journalism. Various scholars have researched each of the topics. Their tests are well described and the analyses are carefully explained. These examples provide the book with a sound foundation, making this book something to consider carefully. As a conclusion, the author reminds us that we haven't taken into account the benefits our time enjoys when compared to even the recent past. Childhood diseases, such as diphtheria, have been removed as a threat to our families and society. We should remember that and remind ourselves to use The Head when events are trying to drive The Gut to dominate our thinking. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
 Do monsters really hide under the bed? July 17, 2008
23 out of 29 found this review helpful
This is a brilliant, timely and beautifully detailed study of the hundreds of things people fear, matched with solid facts of why many of such fears are groundless.
Gardner, a newspaper columnist himself, cites case after case of how the media generates and exaggerates many fears of our modern lives. He backs this up with numerous studies of how people respond to perceived fears, even when there is little or no danger.
It's a telling indictment of media sensationalism, always seeking the worst possible case to attract the most readers, listeners or viewers. If any publisher wants to know why circulation is falling, this shows why people turn to new sources for better information.
The impact reality is that anyone who cries "Shark!" day after day after day will eventually lose credibility. Stop and think for a moment about why the President, Congress and the media are trusted by only about 15 percent of Americans. But, it's about much more than the media; it's how politicians, do-gooders, flocks and others use fear to generate attention and a panic whicdh they can "solve".
Common fears affect everyone, and Gardner explains why many should be nonexistant. For example, Gallup polls consistently report 20 percent of Americans "frequently" or "occasionally" worry about being murdered. The actual murder rate in the U.S., with one of the highest murder rates in the world, is 0.0056 percent. It means an average American is three times more likely to die in a car wreck than by murder.
Gardner uses solid logic such as this to illustrate why most of our fears have no basis in fact. Unfortunately, it is the great weakness of the book. He has an astute knowledge of numbers, but little understanding of fear. He'd be utterly useless at comforting a small child who fears monsters under the bed.
Why? People fear things over which they have no control. They feel in control in a car. They don't feel in control if they are the victim of a shark, a murder, a disease, a monster under the bed and many of the thousands of other random events in their lives.
All the numbers, facts, statistics, charts and studies in the world won't comfort that small child who's afraid of monsters. The blunt fact is the child can't see in the dark, and thus feels vulnerable to monsters who can see in the dark.
If Gardner could understand the fears of a small child, he could understand why people develop irrational fears. It shows the cynicism of the media, politicians and others who manipulate, exaggerate and use such fears for their own selfish purposes. People are afraid of things and events beyond their control.
By all means, it's a very good book. It would have been great had Gardner understood monsters. It's the difference between a top-notch compiler of facts, and a superb columnist who understands instead of merely tallies.
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