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February 11, 2007
[ref]
According to an article on "networkworld.com",
Bruce Schneier states that we often "exaggerate
risks that are -- ":
(formatting mine)
spectacular
rare
beyond their control
talked about
international
man-made
immediate
directed against children
morally offensive
Risks are downplayed if they are:
pedestrian
common
more under their control
not discussed
natural
long-term
evolving slowly
affecting others
Other known human mental biases:
"optimism bias -- we tend to think we'll be
luckier than the rest." ODDS_ARE
"vividness" -- the most vivid memory, the "most
available" one, is the "worst memory"
"anchoring" -- a tendency to obsess about one thing
(a recent thought,
a suggestion from elsewhere) This is the
standard name,
but it's
terrible.
I can never
remember what
it means.
And this was
invented by
someone who
claims to
understand
human
cognition.
"single pointed"
"mono-focus"
"tunnel vision"
And there are of course many a list out
there for people who like lists:
[ref]
[ref]
There's nothing controversial about any of
this material. Everyone knows that human
beings have these broken perceptions of
risk, and we can all think of examples of
each of these points...
We nod and smile, and then go back to our
regularly scheduled panic reactions.
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