FYI: Tornadoes are catastrophic. They kill people every year. But when surveyed, most Americans believe tornadoes kill more people than asthma. The comparison isn’t close. Tornadoes kill about 50 Americans a year. Asthma wipes out more than 4,000.
Asthma-related deaths make lousy headlines. They don’t grab eyeballs. And fewer eyeballs mean fewer advertising dollars. That’s why many people think we’re living in dangerous times. Too many think nostalgically of the good old days. But the good old days weren’t always good. Columnist Franklin Pierce Adams once wrote, “Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” In fact, today might be a better time to be alive than at any point in history.
Steven Pinker agrees. The Harvard University psychologist recently published Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress. Bill Gates says it’s his “new favorite book of all time.” Pinker describes something called the availability heuristic. It means people estimate the probability or frequency of an event based on how easily examples come to mind. The media, for example, makes big news out of tornadoes. But it doesn’t report the thousands of deaths caused by asthma every year. That’s why most Americans think tornadoes kill more people than asthma does.
Regards,
Ted
https://assetbuilder.com/knowledge-center/articles/heres-what-the-media-wants-to-keep-secretAmazon.Com: "The Case For Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress:"
https://www.amazon.com/Enlightenment-Now-Science-Humanism-Progress/dp/0525427570
