Fears vs. Facts

Many people (especially right now, it seems) worry about the "high-profile" hazards - you know, those "sensationalized" possibilities ranging from global thermonuclear war to Anthrax exposure. 

Too often though, we may fail to recognize the more common dangers that we really should concern ourselves with.

Here are a few fears some people have which are of such low-probability that most will likely never encounter them:

FEAR:                                                         Probability:

Shark Attack                                   1:3.7 million

West Nile Virus                               1:15,000

Lightning Strike                               1:39,000

Commercial Plane Crash      1:40,000

Anthrax Exposure                                 1:730,000

Amusement Ride Death         1:920,000

Here are some examples of what we should be concerned about, given statistical probabilities of personally encountering:

Cancer                                                               1:7

Heart Disease                                      1:4

Motor Vehicle Collision         1:88

CVA/"Stroke"                                                 1:23

Diabetes                                                             1:53

Alzheimer’s Disease                     1:75

Source: “Risk - A Practical Guide for Deciding What’s Really Safe and What’s Really Dangerous in the World Around You”

…by David Ropeik and George Gray