Dying for the Ultimate Selfie: We ’ re Really Bad at Accurately Assessing Risk

Selfies are the journaling of our time. We take them everywhere we go, not only to remind our future selves of things we’ve done, but to also broadcast to the world what a fun, exciting, and carefully-curated life we lead. But in a story that’s becoming as commonplace as school shootings in America, more and more people are either dying or putting themselves in extreme physical danger to take the ultimate selfie. And for what? Fame in the form of more likes and followers on social media. Why are we so bad at rationally assessing risk in situations such as this? It’s hard to believe we’ve come to a point in humanity where a simple act of photography could be life-threatening. But combine narcissism, the desire for popularity that extends beyond high school, and the human psychology of risk assessment, and you get a dangerous combination. Reasons People Put Their Life at Risk for a Selfie Humans fundamentally underestimate risk. Our minds have developed evolutionary shortcuts in order to make decisions more quickly — especially decisions about risk. This quick shortcut reaction in our brains evolved because it provided us an advantage in our fight-or-flight response, allowing us to decide whether we needed to get away from a potential predator or fight it. It served humanity well for thousands of years. But over time, the risks changed from natural predators and dangers in the wild to less obvious risks in a mechanical and technologically-driven w...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: General Mental Health and Wellness Narcissism Psychology Technology Source Type: blogs