How Risky Is It, Really?

"Yes, this is a completely non-technical book, which is looking at things from the point of view of psychology. It is essentially a review of the recent research on risk perception. He is looking at how dangerous it is if we get our interpretations wrong. He uses our response to 9/11 quite a lot as an example, but he has also recently written about the response to Fukushima and nuclear risk. He starts with neuroscience , pointing out that we have a fear response which has evolved to react intuitively to threats, and this has been very useful. But sometimes this shortcut can lead us to make the wrong decisions – our gut feelings can make us too fearful sometimes, and not fearful enough at other times. The usual things that tick the fear-factor box are often not natural, and things that we aren’t in control of radiation from nuclear plants is a prime example. They could be unfamiliar risks, or come from sources that we don’t trust. Issues like sustainability and biodiversity, rather than pesticides and vaccines which people often get concerned about. He argues that homeland security after 9/11 was a massive waste of resources, and how by building up people’s fears it allows particular political agendas to be imposed."