Freakonomics Lesson Plan

Peter Sandman, the risk communications consultant, says that “the risks that scare people and the risks that kill people are very different.” What do the risks that scare people have in common? What do the risks that kill people have in common?

Risks that you can control are less scary than risks that are out of your control. That’s why people are more afraid to fly (not in control) than drive (in control). Also, risks are scarier when they seem more imminent; fear thrives in the present tense. That’s why a terrorist attack (now) is scarier than a heart attack (later). Also, there is the "dread factor." Death by terrorist attack seems more awful than death by heart...