Cherry-Picking Our Fears

The various ways in which people die should, in the end, not matter much — but they most certainly do.

Smoking vs. Terrorism

Six million people worldwide, according to the American Cancer Society, die every year from smoking. 400,000 of them are Americans. Most die from cancer, COPD and other breathing difficulties. Others, 600,000 worldwide, die due to exposure to smokers’ toxic fumes. Despite all agreeing that 400,000 is a huge and terrifying number of dead Americans, nary a ripple is made in our national conversation about this staggering loss — as though it has little effect on the rest of us.

By comparison tiny numbers of people die in terrorist attacks worldwide annually yet the effect of that is absolute hysteria and dread.

What these two groups have in common is that individuals died, but the far larger group’s deaths are accepted and provided little regard or publicity, while the other group, though mathematically minuscule in comparison, garners enormous attention, panic, and screaming headlines.

What exactly is going on here?

Some of the same people who smoke are canceling travel plans to Europe even as we speak out of fear that they will die or become incapacitated at the hands of terrorists but continue to smoke, despite the statistically far greater chance they will die or become incapacitated by their own hand. They are literally saying, “I will not stop smoking because I am certain I will not imminently die from smoking, but I refuse to travel to Europe because I’m convinced if I do I will imminently die at the hands of a terrorist.”

How does an individual reach such opposing conclusions as "I'm convinced I won't die from this, but I'm convinced I will die from that?"

Even though some of these individuals might acknowledge their conclusions are not rational, they proceed with their irrationality despite the facts. This is an illustration of the overwhelming power of fear and the individual's lack of critical thought as applied to his fears.