| The Science of Fear: How the Culture of Fear Manipulates Your Brain Contributor(s): Gardner, Daniel (Author) |
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ISBN: 0452295467 ISBN-13: 9780452295469 Publisher: Plume Books OUR PRICE: $16.20 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2009 Annotation: 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 flyabelieving they were avoiding riskaroad 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. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Psychology | Emotions - Psychology | Neuropsychology |
| Dewey: 152.46 |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 5.4" W x 8.4" (0.65 lbs) 368 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: "An invaluable resource for anyone who aspires to think clearly" (The Guardian) from the New York Times bestselling author of Superforecasting and Future Babble From terror attacks to collapsing economies, from painkiller epidemics to mass gun violence and poisonous toys from China, our list of fears seems to be exploding. Yet we are the safest and healthiest humans in history. Why are we so worried? The Science of Fear is an introduction to the new brain science of risk, dissecting the fears that misguide and manipulate us every day. Award-winning journalist Dan Gardner demonstrates how irrational fear springs from the ways humans miscalculate risks based on our hunter-gatherer brains. With the exclusive cooperation of risk-science pioneer Paul Slovic and other leading experts, Gardner reveals how our gut reactions lead us astray. Understanding our irrational fears frees us from political and corporate manipulation, and makes our choices better. Ultimately, The Science of Fear will make you brave. "Excellent... Analyzes everything from the media's predilection for irrational scare stories to the cynical use of fear by politicians... A] cheery corrective to modern paranoia."--The Economist "An entertaining, often jolting account of why trivial risks terrify us, even as we engage in wildly dangerous activities with hardly a qualm."--Kirkus (starred review) "Elegantly weaves academic research and everyday experience, exposing the secrets of emotion and reason, and the essential roles they play on our lives. An excellent book."--Dan Ariely, New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational |
