Science and Technology Represented on the List of Top Fears

Well I have been taught over and over that 85% of what I worry about will never happen. That leaves the bottom 15%,

1) corrupt government officials (of the same or other party)

2) zombie apocalypse (depends on the proliferation of puffer fish toxin)

3) ghosts (been there done that, wish they would get out from under my bed, and they make my room cold at night)

4) rabid dogs and Englishmen named John Bull, along with rabid bats, foxes (of either kind), and any kind of snake that just shows up in my back yard.

Sharknado, perhaps?

Yeah, but I am too far inland, is that what you fear? A shark landing on a car skylight that is open, perhaps?

You do realize that Vincent Price was a role model for me growing up, right?

Apparently more people are killed by coconuts, champagne corks and cows than by sharks. Then again, according to this article, more people were killed by Sharknado than by actual sharks.

Always be mindful, Mr. Monkey, of the source.

I wonder if they asked Victor Navorski if he had a fear of krakozhia ?

I have a greater fear of airport terminals than a fictional country...just sayin'.

I don't understand why the fear of being conscious to witness one's own death did not make the list.

Are we talking about being present in the body, or being a departed soul in advance of the event, looking down, and watching it happen?

If everyone had such an overwhelming fear, nothing would ever get done.

Remember that question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"? A corollary to that is , "Which dies first, the body or the consciousness?". When I killed chickens for food, I was just a kid with primitive means. I know they were aware of their deaths. When they escaped after I chopped off their heads, they ran around spewing blood & guts from both ends. It took longer for them to die than I expected. All I know, is that I wouldn't want to witness/experience my own death. That fear might not be disabling. It might actually be a motive to survive.

Speaking of low-odds possibilities, there was the situation where a guy rents a vehicle to drive around the U. S. on vacation, and decides to buy the cheapest cheap-scate motorist insurance policy...

Everything went fine, until one day, he gets slowed down by a large, flatbed truck & trailer (crawling) along through Kansas...

It seems that the trailer was loaded with a nearly full-size replica of an adult blue whale, and then, the wind picked-up a bit ...

The vacationer decided to pass the (combo), just as the wind started to pick-up a little bit more ...

The (combo) started to swerve before the vacationer could complete the pass, just as the tie-downs started to break...

Too late, the load rolled off of the trailer, and onto the vacationer, causing quite an accident...

As a result of the litigation, it was determined that protection from a blue whale rollng over on top of him, in the middle of Kansas, was the only thing he was covered for...

(i.e.: even loooong odds don't always mean totally impossible odds...)

That has to be true, since no one in their right mind can make that sort of thing up.

Basically, when it comes down to my time to be afraid, I will be afraid, very afraid.

Then I will get past it, one way or the other.

Aw, spiders are cool. I like to think of them eating all the other nasty things I don't want around. I am actually the spider-getter in my house. I never kill them, just usher them outside. Or, just leave them alone.

https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/in-defense-of-spiders/

"it is the first time any environmental issue made it into the top 10."

No surprise there.

I'm sure those worries began to spring up very rapidly, shortly after the first of the year! Rightfully so.

Nah. I would be more concerned if the environmental issue was dog poo all over my front lawn.

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Uncalled for, and offensive!

It's been shown that what people fear and the actual dangers are quite often different. People will fear anthrax more than influenza, whereas the death rate from anthrax is very low but at least a quarter million people in the world die of influenza every year.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/11/perceived_risk_2.html

What people fear is more driven by what has been in the news media than by any kind of rational assessment of the dangers.

Well, I do have a fear that statisticians don't really have their own craft down to a science. For instance, I fear more being hit by an asteroid than being attacked by a shark. I'm land-locked and have 0% chance of a shark attack. Anthrax is just a method of the real threat. Terrorism/assassination is the real threat, which can use virtually an infinite number of methods. Even if a roller-coaster is the safest form of transportation, I still wouldn't get on one that has obvious defects. It's just that I won't trust those statistics to replace my own judgement. Statistics has not yet found a way to measure all the factors that go into one's judgement. Therefore, using statistics as a measure of one's objectiveness is unfair. Call that a subjective opinion if you want; I have no scientific statistics/facts to back it up with.

I am not a statistician, so I don't have an exact percentage, but I would say something like 99% of fear is irrational and worrying is always a waste of time. That said, I am often afraid and do occasionally worry. Go figure. Humans are complicated.

Is there an asteroid in there? Or maybe we put too much faith in Bruce Willis movies.