Psychology

The Availability Heuristic: Why You Fear the Wrong Things

13 min read

You’re terrified of flying but drive everywhere without thinking twice about it. You avoid the beach because you’re worried about shark attacks but don’t think about the far more dangerous drive to get there. You panic about stranger danger and keep your kids inside while ignoring the fact that they’re statistically more likely to be harmed by someone they know. You obsess over terrorism while smoking cigarettes. You worry about vaccines causing autism while not worrying about the diseases they prevent. Your fear response isn’t calibrated to actual risk. It’s calibrated to what you can easily recall. Plane crashes are...

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