Fear of Terrorism

Consider these statistics:

• Today about 6700 Americans will die:
• 1200 will die from smoking
• 120 will die in traffic accidents
• 85 will commit suicide
• 54 will die from drug overdoses
• 50 will be murdered
• Fewer than 1 will die from terrorism, and that will likely be in a foreign country

Explain America's fear of terrorism

• Rationally, Americans should be 1000 times more afraid of cigarettes than of terrorists.
• Use Slovic’s analysis of risk perception and the ideas from the Time Magazine article to explain Americans’ heightened fear of terrorists. Come up with at least 4 possible factors that explain why we are more afraid of terrorists than the mere numbers might suggest we should be.