Americans fear terrorists most of all, according to new data by the PEW Research Center, and that’s stupid.
What we fear:
- ISIS – 68 percent;
- Iran’s nuclear program – 62 percent;
- Cyber-attacks – 59 percent;
- Global economic instability – 51 percent;
- Tensions with Russia – 43 percent;
- Global climate change – 42 percent;
- Territorial disputes with China – 30 percent.
Of course, no one wants to be shot at work or get one’s head cut off in some desert compound or blown up in a suicide bombing but those events are not going to cause anything like the damage and loss of human life and livelihood as the mega-disasters we are threatened with and can do something about.
And, in fact, we’d probably be at least as effective against these mega-disasters as our fight against terrorism around the globe has been. (… of course we can continue the fight against terrorism at the same time.)
While fears of being shot, blown up or decapitated have a very direct, personal threat feeling attached to them, we’re talking a relative few Western deaths a year (tragic and criminal as they are) compared to the deaths of tens of thousands if not tens of millions caused by these also very real threats to our personal and collective survival. (Does this make you feel safer?)
Many of these mega-threats are not a matter of if but when and not possibly hundreds of years from now but decades. So, to remind us all of what we should fear and thus attempt to do something about … we’ve made a list:
Now, here’s the breakdown of what the world’s people fear:
Here’s a more tongue-in-cheek version of what would ruin our day in the Northwest:
Jake Ellison can be reached at 206-448-8334 or jakeellison@seattlepi.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook.
If Google Plus is your thing, check out our science coverage here.
from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1S5rW36
Americans fear terrorists most of all, according to new data by the PEW Research Center, and that’s stupid.
What we fear:
- ISIS – 68 percent;
- Iran’s nuclear program – 62 percent;
- Cyber-attacks – 59 percent;
- Global economic instability – 51 percent;
- Tensions with Russia – 43 percent;
- Global climate change – 42 percent;
- Territorial disputes with China – 30 percent.
Of course, no one wants to be shot at work or get one’s head cut off in some desert compound or blown up in a suicide bombing but those events are not going to cause anything like the damage and loss of human life and livelihood as the mega-disasters we are threatened with and can do something about.
And, in fact, we’d probably be at least as effective against these mega-disasters as our fight against terrorism around the globe has been. (… of course we can continue the fight against terrorism at the same time.)
While fears of being shot, blown up or decapitated have a very direct, personal threat feeling attached to them, we’re talking a relative few Western deaths a year (tragic and criminal as they are) compared to the deaths of tens of thousands if not tens of millions caused by these also very real threats to our personal and collective survival. (Does this make you feel safer?)
Many of these mega-threats are not a matter of if but when and not possibly hundreds of years from now but decades. So, to remind us all of what we should fear and thus attempt to do something about … we’ve made a list:
Now, here’s the breakdown of what the world’s people fear:
Here’s a more tongue-in-cheek version of what would ruin our day in the Northwest:
Jake Ellison can be reached at 206-448-8334 or jakeellison@seattlepi.com. Follow Jake on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jake_News. Also, swing by and *LIKE* his page on Facebook.
If Google Plus is your thing, check out our science coverage here.
from The Big Science Blog http://ift.tt/1S5rW36
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