Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear
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"An overdue rational antidote to those of us who fear becoming a victim of the next terrorist attack, a fiery plane crash or some exotic killer disease." -- "The Ottawa Citizen"
"Entertaining....A breath of fresh air and common sense." -- "Publishers Weekly"
"Compelling ... an invaluable resource for anyone who aspires to think clearly" -- "The Guardian," UK
"A fascinating insight into the peculiar and devastating nature of human fear" -- "Sunday Telegraph," UK
"An excellent work... his take on terrorism in the book's penultimate chapter is refreshing ... a cheery corrective to modern paranoia." -- "The Economist"
"A beautifully observed study." -- "The Observer," UK
"Terrific... As a writer, he's exceptionally good." -- "The Evening Standard," UK
"Entertaining....A breath of fresh air and common sense." -- "Publishers Weekly"
"Compelling ... an invaluable resource for anyone who aspires to think clearly" -- "The Guardian," UK
"A fascinating insight into the peculiar and devastating nature of human fear" -- "Sunday Telegraph," UK
"An excellent work... his take on terrorism in the book's penultimate chapter is refreshing ... a cheery corrective to modern paranoia." -- "The Economist"
"A beautifully observed study." -- "The Observer," UK
"Terrific... As a writer, he's exceptionally good." -- "The Evening Standard," UK
"From the Hardcover edition."
Evening Standard
Terrific ... exceptionally good - has the clarity of Malcolm Gladwell
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a really fascinating book and makes you question the role of the media in our understanding of the world. We are constantly bombarded by negative messages from every corner and Gardner persuasively illustrates how our rational brains are unable to calculate the real level of risk to us. Our instinctive survival responses seem to override our rational knowledge and so we are left fearful and stressed by the messages we receive from the media and politicians. Gardner looks at how fear is used to manipulate us and it is really thought-provoking reading.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The overriding message of this book is that our `gut' feelings about risk are often wrong and we should learn to engage our mind to make more informed judgements.
The problem is, according to Gardner, that we as humans were built, in an evolutionary sense, before the stone age and in the information age we now live in, this is not particularly useful. He explores what he (and others) have called our dual systems of reasoning. System One - Gut (Feeling or unconscious thought) and System Two - Head (Reason or conscious thought). Gut, he says has been very useful to us since we lived in caves, and it takes considerable effort for us to make Head over-ride it.
Gardner does a great job of telling us why our perception of risk is often so wrong and arguing that humans are not naturally good at statistics. He goes into great detail about a number of issues (terrorism, chemicals, shark attacks, and cancer to name a few) and explains why the headlines and resulting perception of risks are wrong. However, whilst he presents a mind boggling array of basic statistical errors we make on a regular basis, he rarely tells the reader what the correct answer is.
Gardner does an excellent job of laying out how `figures' quoted in headlines misrepresent data to either catch readers attention or further their own cause. This isn't to say the journalists are deliberately deceiving us (Gardener is after all a journalist by trade) it is, he says, that we are hard wired to listen out for and take notice of risks that a communicated in a certain way. It's what has kept the human species alive.
However, whilst the book tells me about the things that I shouldn't be worrying about, I can't help feeling slightly frustrated that I don't know more about what I should be worrying about. Although he does mention that if we all paid more attention to lifestyle issues (smoking, drinking, diet, obesity & exercise) and worried less about everything else we'd be much better off.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable, optimistic, Gladwell-esque, read. But I do wish he'd told me a few more answers rather than leaving me to go look up (which he tells us as humans we are ill equipped for) all the `real' risks.
The problem is, according to Gardner, that we as humans were built, in an evolutionary sense, before the stone age and in the information age we now live in, this is not particularly useful. He explores what he (and others) have called our dual systems of reasoning. System One - Gut (Feeling or unconscious thought) and System Two - Head (Reason or conscious thought). Gut, he says has been very useful to us since we lived in caves, and it takes considerable effort for us to make Head over-ride it.
Gardner does a great job of telling us why our perception of risk is often so wrong and arguing that humans are not naturally good at statistics. He goes into great detail about a number of issues (terrorism, chemicals, shark attacks, and cancer to name a few) and explains why the headlines and resulting perception of risks are wrong. However, whilst he presents a mind boggling array of basic statistical errors we make on a regular basis, he rarely tells the reader what the correct answer is.
Gardner does an excellent job of laying out how `figures' quoted in headlines misrepresent data to either catch readers attention or further their own cause. This isn't to say the journalists are deliberately deceiving us (Gardener is after all a journalist by trade) it is, he says, that we are hard wired to listen out for and take notice of risks that a communicated in a certain way. It's what has kept the human species alive.
However, whilst the book tells me about the things that I shouldn't be worrying about, I can't help feeling slightly frustrated that I don't know more about what I should be worrying about. Although he does mention that if we all paid more attention to lifestyle issues (smoking, drinking, diet, obesity & exercise) and worried less about everything else we'd be much better off.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable, optimistic, Gladwell-esque, read. But I do wish he'd told me a few more answers rather than leaving me to go look up (which he tells us as humans we are ill equipped for) all the `real' risks.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After 9/11, millions of Americans chose their gut over their head, and abandoned planes for cars. That mistake sadly cost the lives of more than 1,500 people. Risk is a book that reveals the often unfortunate triumph of gut over head, of unconscious feeling over conscious reason - and how that succeeds in distorting our fundamental understanding of the risks we face in our daily lives, from cancer to paedophiles, terrorism to asteroids.
Gardner writes with great clarity and perceptiveness, covering quite a broad canvas that touches on politics, the media and the corporate world, as well as devoting a fair bit of attention to the cognitive errors that regularly impinge our judgment. In particular, if you enjoyed Flat Earth News, Bad Science or Irrationality, you will probably enjoy this, as it brings together strands from all three, along with a few others like Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. A genuinely good - and reassuring - read.
Gardner writes with great clarity and perceptiveness, covering quite a broad canvas that touches on politics, the media and the corporate world, as well as devoting a fair bit of attention to the cognitive errors that regularly impinge our judgment. In particular, if you enjoyed Flat Earth News, Bad Science or Irrationality, you will probably enjoy this, as it brings together strands from all three, along with a few others like Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. A genuinely good - and reassuring - read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Do You Want to Take a Risk?
As a species we are hardwired to be curious about each other. Our social mores are based on our survival and being able to unite against the threat of other inhabitants sharing our... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Donald Scott
Entertaining and Informative Discussion on the Misunderstanding of...
This is an excellent, entertaining book on how we understand - or rather misunderstand - the nature of risk. Read more
Published 5 months ago by F Henwood
prophetic book that explains the media's thirst for power
I first read this book a couple of years ago and found it made me really angry - not with the book because it is a positive work, but because of the way it exposed corruption of... Read more
Published 5 months ago by B. A. Hallewell
contradictions
I must be missing something with all these positive reviews. As it says in the heading, this book is full of contradicitons, for example, he says that the chances of being murdered... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. Andrew J. Pearsall
Fantastic
This is wonderful read.
The information is provided in an easily understood form and even when it is trying to address fairly complicated topics, the writing style keeps... Read more
The information is provided in an easily understood form and even when it is trying to address fairly complicated topics, the writing style keeps... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr T Wake
Essential reading for todays lifestyle
I never thought I could get addicted to books about math and statistics, but sitting here writing about Risk - the science and politics of fear by Dan Gardner, just goes to show, I... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Den
Entertaining and accurate, but rather pointless
The thesis of the book is:
1) We don't make accurate assessments of the risks we face, relying instead on our gut instincts. Read more
1) We don't make accurate assessments of the risks we face, relying instead on our gut instincts. Read more
Published 9 months ago by K. Ennis
Fear you can take or leave
The way to enjoy this book is to open a page at random and read until the attention wanders. Some bits are absolutely excellent. Read more
Published 12 months ago by M. Woodman
Your fears are irrational - and this is used to manipulate you
A very interesting book that answers a key question that I have often thought about (why does the past always seem a better nicer place than today? Read more
Published 14 months ago by Robin L. Stacpoole
Some sense at last!
Explains clearly why the human race appears to be so stupid for so much of the time. Understand what this book is saying and endeavour to become less stupid yourself! Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mogulfield
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