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The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger | 
 enlarge | Author: Daniel Gardner
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.40
You Save: $11.55 (46%)
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Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 29239
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0525950621
Dewey Decimal Number: 152.46
EAN: 9780525950622
ASIN: 0525950621
Publication Date: July 17, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! NEW Book! May have remainder mark. Most orders ship within 1 BUSINESS DAY with ORDER CONFIRMATION.
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Product Description
From terror attacks to the war on terror, real estate bubbles to the price of oil, sexual predators to poisoned food from China, our list of fears is ever-growing. And yet, we are the safest and healthiest humans in history. Irrational fear seems to be taking over, often with tragic results. For example, in the months after 9/11, when people decided to drive instead of fly believing they were avoiding risk road deaths rose by more than 1,500.
In this fascinating, lucid, and thoroughly entertaining examination of how humans process risk, journalist Dan Gardner had the exclusive cooperation of Paul Slovic, the world renowned risk-science pioneer, as he reveals how our hunter gatherer brains struggle to make sense of a world utterly unlike the one that made them. Filled with illuminating real world examples, interviews with experts, and fast-paced, lean storytelling, The Science of Fear shows why it is truer than ever that the worst thing we have to fear is fear itself.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 Well balanced. Refreshing perspective. December 30, 2008
Vitor Martins (OEIRAS, Portugal)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Why do we fear a proliferating number of relatively minor risks? Why do we so often shrug off greater threats? Why have we become a "culture of fear"?
This book is one of several that I've been reading about the subject of the underlying factors of hyped risk perception, scaremongering environmentalism and the like.
While Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World still remains, for me, at the top, I believe it is a little too hard to read for the casual reader. [Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming (Vintage) is so much better in this regard!]
Gardner's "Science of Fear" is a very well written, fresh and entertaining book. It also analyzes the concept of "unreasoning fear" and a broad set of contributing factors, including the anthropological/psychological-evolutionary basis for our pre-historic and obsolete "fear management" system, our cognitive biases and innumeracy, the media approach to newstime (mis)information and the industry of fear that surrounds us.
The book is also enrichening and stimulates our critical thinking abilities as it explores and debunks some of the usual suspects for major media hype and junkscience marketing: crime, chemicals and terrorism.
In effect, as the author puts it, there's never been a better time to be alive...and still, as a society, we are held at gunpoint by unjustified unreasoning fear.
Excellent book December 18, 2008
David (Muncie, Indiana)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a very good read and interesting book. I learned about how our brains really work written in a way that the layman can understand.
Great read that allows the reader to question its own perceptions December 2, 2008
Adrian Gutierrez (Fort Wayne, IN, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was a easy read, the text flows well and the author knows how to use statistics to reinforce his writing.
This book makes the reader wonder about the fear that itself has and how irrational we are at times; Gardner explains the root of those fears and how we are influenced by society and the world that surrounds us.
The author uses some economic theory in his writing but does not make it a technical book, it is very much a layman's book.
Great for everyone, activists and change makers November 20, 2008
Roberto Giannicola (Walnut Creek, CA United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is very interesting and I would recommend it not only to all fearful people who have stopped enjoying life because of all their worries, but also to the activist and change maker that uses information gathered by the experts.
Even the experts tend to misuse the statistics and numbers they read to reinforce their messages for change, and I think that the use of fear, even with the best of intentions, can create long term ill effects and mitigate one's expertise.
This book will make you realize how society has become the victim of distorted news and is an eye opener for everyone. It will help you use more critical thinking when you listen to the gloomy and depressing news permeating our papers and TV channels, and make you challenge the information that we receive.
Moreover, if you are an activist, or someone working for change, like I do, it'll make you wary of the stats provided even by people with the best of intentions.
I often read that fear is a short-term trigger for action, but then will live you in despair and depleted of hope in the long term. This book will confirm that.
After a slow start, I could not put the book down November 7, 2008
Edward Durney (San Francisco)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book really grew on me. It started slow -- the writing early on seemed disorganized and less than captivating. Then I got into the book, to the point where I could not put it down. Too interested in what was coming next, in looking at different examples of how fear in the Gut overwhelms thinking in the Head. Toward the end of the book, things got a bit slow again, as Gardner got repetitive. All in all, though, a very interesting read.
The premise of The Science of Fear is simple -- fear comes from the Gut, not the Head. Sometimes the Head can overrule the Gut, sometimes not. Snakes, for example. Most people fear snakes. It has nothing to do with reason or experience. It's ingrained. Even if we try to get used to being around snakes -- which would normally work to eliminate a fear like this -- nothing we do or think can overcome the fear of snakes.
Gardner gives lots of examples of how fear works. But he is a newspaper journalist, and the writing shows that. Despite the title, this is not a science book. And the organization is not tight. The book seems less a book and more a collection of articles. That's what kept me from giving it five stars.
Another weakness, for me -- I had hoped that Gardner would cover a couple of topics that ended up with just a brief mention. Global warming, which seems a fear driven by Gut more than Head. And the Y2K computer bug. Talk about not being able to properly evaluate risk. Billions wasted to combat a false fear. Both topics interest me.
Like most books, The Science of Fear could have been better. But it's still a very good book, well worth reading. I enjoyed it and learned from it. In both cases, a lot.
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