Why are we overestimating the Ebola threat?
Polls show a quarter of Americans are concerned about the threat of Ebola, despite bigger risks of exposure to other more mundane threats. Studies show we overestimate "dreadful" risks.
Posted — UpdatedIf the chances of anyone in the U.S. contracting Ebola are so minuscule, why do so many Americans worry about it? Is the news media fanning the flames? I think there is something to that, given the blaring headlines about its appearance in the U.S.
"In the last five years, the death risk for passengers in the United States has been one in 45 million flights," according to one recent study.
The larger point I’m making is that people tend to underestimate known risks that aren't dreadful, and they overestimate risks that are new and can't be controlled. It is therefore no surprise that worry over Ebola is high, even though objectively that shouldn't be the case.
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