Human Fear

Humans have evolved a strong desire to avoid things that kill them, e.g. poisons. We avoid radioactivity even though it very recently became a problem. We have little fear of bioweapons, nuclear weapons, global warming, environmental collapse because their danger is not immediate. We kids ourselves about the danger of addictive drugs because we are attuned only to the short-term pleasure they promise, not the ultimate destruction. Even though a car crash is the most likely form of premature death, we have little fear of them because of familiarity. Oddly, people mostly fear things unlikely to happen — e.g. Jesus going Godzilla, an asteroid smashing into earth, invasions by Muslim peasants.

~ Roedy (1948-02-04 age:70)