How Risky Is It, Really?: Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts

by Ropeik, David

• ISBN13: 9780071629690
• ISBN10: 0071629696
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-01
• Publisher: McGraw Hill

Summary

Overcome fears and make better choicesby understanding risk More people die of the common flu than they would ifthey contracted the swine flu. But more people fearswine flu because they think it's more dangerous. Riskexpert David Ropeik explains how we are hardwiredto fear first and think second, causing us to misjudgeactual dangers.How Risky Is It, Really?gives you the tools to betterevaluate real risksteaching you to become moreaware of true dangers to make better choices. This is amust-read for anyone involved in health and safety aswell as anyone who wants to understand why we fearwhat we doand whether we should.

Author Biography

David Ropeik is an international consultant and widely sought-after public speaker on risk perception and risk communication. He helps with both strategic and tactical advice about crises. He offers long range planning to anticipate potential crises so mechanisms and messages are in place should a problem suddenly arise. He also advises on the full suite of communications, including communication with stakeholders, the general public, the press, regulators, and investors. Ropeik is an instructor at the Harvard University Extension School's Environmental Management Program. He taught risk perception and risk communication at Harvard School of Public Heath (2000-2006). He was a commentator on risk for NPR Morning Edition program. He has been a guest host for NPR's “The Connection.” He has written articles about risk perception for The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, LA Times, and The Boston Globe, Nova among others. He was a former television reporter and print journalist. He's won several regional EMMY awards.His consulting clients have included: The International Atomic Energy Agency, the EPA, The Department of Homeland Security, The Department of Health and Human Services, The National Academies of Science, the FAA, The Ministry of the Environment of Ontario, The National Nanotechnology Initiative, Medtronic Corp., the Electric Power Research Institute, the Nuclear Energy Institute, and the Consumer Federation of America.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
This is your Brain on Fear	p. 1
The Amygdala to the Rescue: Hard-Wired to Fear First and Think Second	p. 2
The Fear Response Continues	p. 7
Built-in Fears	p. 14
Bounded Rationality: Because reason alone can't keep you safe	p. 21
Mental Shortcuts for Making Decisions	p. 23
The Framing Effect	p. 26
Categorization: The Representativeness Effect	p. 32
Loss Aversion	p. 40
Anchoring and Adjustment	p. 45
The Awareness/Ready Recall Effect	p. 48
Innumeracy	p. 52
Optimism Bias	p. 56
Fear factors: Why some threats feel scarier than Others	p. 65
Principles behind Risk Perception Factors	p. 68
Trust	p. 70
Risk versus Benefit	p. 81
Control	p. 85
Choice	p. 89
Is the Risk Natural or Human-Made?	p. 92
Pain and Suffering	p. 96
Uncertainty	p. 99
Catastrophic or Chronic	p. 105
Can It Happen to Me?	p. 109
Is the Risk New or Familiar?	p. 114
Risks to Children	p. 119
Personification	p. 126
Fairness	p. 130
Risk Perception Factors Redux	p. 132
The wisdom or the madness of the crowd?	p. 135
A Conversation about Climate Change	p. 135
Cultural Cognition	p. 142
Chicken Little, Pollyanna, and Other Social Forces	p. 156
And That's the Way It Is	p. 166
Closing the Perception gap	p. 187
The Risk of Getting Risk "Wrong" as individuals	p. 187
The Risk of Getting Risk "Wrong" as a Society	p. 198
Toward Healthier Individual Choices	p. 214
Toward Healthier Choices as a Society	p. 237
Closing Thoughts	p. 259
Endnotes	p. 263
Index	p. 271
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