According to a recent CNN poll, people's fears about the possibility of a major terrorist attack are at an all time low.
The irrational fear of death at the hands of a terrorist can be classified as an availability heuristic (more or less created by our government and media). An availability heuristic is defined as "a phenomenon (which can result in a cognitive bias) in which people base their prediction of the frequency of an event or the proportion within a population based on how easily an example can be brought to mind" (definition courtesy of Wikipedia).
In this case, a terrorist incident can easily be brought to mind. How many times have you seen the planes hit the World Trade Center or people running through the streets of Manhattan on that pleasant fall morning? I bet you can see it right now.
The classic example of an availability heuristic is that, despite tragic fears, you are far more likely to die in your automobile than on a plane. You are far more likely to die in your automobile than in a terrorist attack. According to this article, you are more likely to meet your demise by a car crash, crossing the street, drowning, a fire, a fall, or homicide than you are to die in a terrorist attack. The mortality rate of Americans dying from a terrorist attack on domestic soil since after 9/11 has been 0. So in the past 7 years, you have had no chance to die in a terrorist attack. And yet, according to the CNN poll, 35% of people polled believe that a terrorist attack will occur in the next couple of weeks.
What? What is wrong with these people? They're more likely to die from a heart attack or a self-inflicted gunshot wound or the flu than a terrorist attack.
I can opinion that there is no radical Islamic terrorist threat whatsoever in this country. I'm not going to say that some other yahoo group isn't going to come along and do something stupid (or that we're not going to have more idiotic people with guns on school campuses), but you're not going to have jihadists killing a single citizen on U.S. soil.
Some might say that this is because our "war on terror" is working, but I say that it's because the tragedy of September 11 was created or aided by the complicity of U.S. officials to generate a fear in Americans unseen since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 9/11 served as the catalyst needed for involvement in a war that Americans didn't want to engage in (again, a WWII parallel), and now that they got what they wanted, there's no need to scare us again.
There is no terrorist threat.
The irrational fear of death at the hands of a terrorist can be classified as an availability heuristic (more or less created by our government and media). An availability heuristic is defined as "a phenomenon (which can result in a cognitive bias) in which people base their prediction of the frequency of an event or the proportion within a population based on how easily an example can be brought to mind" (definition courtesy of Wikipedia).
In this case, a terrorist incident can easily be brought to mind. How many times have you seen the planes hit the World Trade Center or people running through the streets of Manhattan on that pleasant fall morning? I bet you can see it right now.
The classic example of an availability heuristic is that, despite tragic fears, you are far more likely to die in your automobile than on a plane. You are far more likely to die in your automobile than in a terrorist attack. According to this article, you are more likely to meet your demise by a car crash, crossing the street, drowning, a fire, a fall, or homicide than you are to die in a terrorist attack. The mortality rate of Americans dying from a terrorist attack on domestic soil since after 9/11 has been 0. So in the past 7 years, you have had no chance to die in a terrorist attack. And yet, according to the CNN poll, 35% of people polled believe that a terrorist attack will occur in the next couple of weeks.
What? What is wrong with these people? They're more likely to die from a heart attack or a self-inflicted gunshot wound or the flu than a terrorist attack.
I can opinion that there is no radical Islamic terrorist threat whatsoever in this country. I'm not going to say that some other yahoo group isn't going to come along and do something stupid (or that we're not going to have more idiotic people with guns on school campuses), but you're not going to have jihadists killing a single citizen on U.S. soil.
Some might say that this is because our "war on terror" is working, but I say that it's because the tragedy of September 11 was created or aided by the complicity of U.S. officials to generate a fear in Americans unseen since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 9/11 served as the catalyst needed for involvement in a war that Americans didn't want to engage in (again, a WWII parallel), and now that they got what they wanted, there's no need to scare us again.
There is no terrorist threat.
