Worry, Don't Be Happy: How We Decide What's Dangerous

Over the course of the next year an American is more likely to die from a car accident (1 in 9,100), a shark attack (1 in 3.7 million), a bee sting (1 in 5.2 million), a lightning strike (1 in 9.6 million) or a plane crash (1 in 11 million) than from Ebola (1 in 13.3 million). Why do we continue to experience such an exaggerated fear of Ebola here in the United States? Why do many support measures that could worsen the problem, such as closing our borders or imposing quarantines on returning health care workers? Why, despite constant media coverage, do so many people seem not to understand the key facts about Ebola transmission? The answers to these questions relate to an immune system most people have never heard of. An understanding of this protective biology could inform how we might respond to the Ebola epidemic more successfully. Humans are highly social animals. Given the physical superiority of our predators, survival depended on it. However, group living was a mixed blessing. The safety afforded by living in close proximity came with the dangers of physical attack and contagious disease. The capacity to detect risk and respond in a way that maximizes survival is an essential talent. Evolutionary pressures therefore favored both a desire for affiliation and a capacity to identify potentially threatening characteristics in our neighbors. Like many danger detecting systems, it is biased in a risk-averse manner erring toward caution. Thousands of years of adapt...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news