tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post4957111095839788355..comments2023-11-30T03:44:34.585-05:00Comments on Opinions Nobody Asked For: The Only Thing We Have To Fear...Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11683622475941901572noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-68000784868839639702008-01-20T13:41:00.000-05:002008-01-20T13:41:00.000-05:00Yeah, like I said, the numbers aren't great, and t...Yeah, like I said, the numbers aren't great, and that 2.4 million number is probably really high. It is definitely worth investigating whether the 6% of people who are freaking would freak over their dirty dishes or something, but I have no idea how you would control for that. Maybe you could give people a test - ask them a few things and say "does this scare you" - before asking about terrorism... but that would skew the numbers since you've already activated the "things you should be scared of" category in the brain of the respondent.<BR/><BR/>I guess the point I'm trying to make is that terrorphobia is dangerous as part of a whole culture of fear (be it of germs or hurricanes) that preys on easily stressed people. What is clear to me is that the excess fear injected into our society by the terror-industrial complex is having a definite adverse effect on our health, and that instead of stoking our fears people should be going out of their way to calm us down. You know, <I>for the children</I>.Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11683622475941901572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-85845338758544817972008-01-19T18:11:00.000-05:002008-01-19T18:11:00.000-05:002.4 million of those would not have had a heart pr...<I>2.4 million of those would not have had a heart problem if not for fear of terrorism.</I><BR/><BR/>That isn't at all clear to me from the article. I think it's more likely that there is a correlation between individuals stressed about terrorism and individuals with habits that lead to heart disease. And that, to me, is quite an obvious link.Barzelayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08075421599258160312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-9746720104516905462008-01-19T17:14:00.000-05:002008-01-19T17:14:00.000-05:00There's a worthy caveat to these numbers. If 6% o...There's a worthy caveat to these numbers. If 6% of people are terribly stressed about terrorism, it's worthwhile to know how likely these people are to be generally stressed out. In the list of factors the researchers controlled for, I don't see "propensity to be stressed out."<BR/><BR/>If, for example, 90% of the people who are unhealthfully anxious about terrorism would be unhealthfully anxious anyway, then the number "terrorist heart disease" quotient drops a lot.<BR/><BR/>Your overall point, however, is still good. I only quibble because 6% of the people I meet don't seem acutely nervous about terrorism, so the number doesn't smell right.-Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16998205576045100941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7603499.post-37255214554625650592008-01-19T13:28:00.000-05:002008-01-19T13:28:00.000-05:00One counterpoint: I'm pretty sure the mortality ra...One counterpoint: I'm pretty sure the mortality rate of any population is 100%, not merely 10. After all, the leading cause of death is birth.<BR/><BR/>Seriously, the fear of fear itself is somewhat paradoxical in nature. If we didn't fear fear we could be afraid of all sorts of things, and what sort of effect would <I>that</I> have on our health?<BR/><BR/>Excuse me while my head explodes.Mikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06383789548221247888noreply@blogger.com