Scientists note that "Fear of Terror Makes People Stupid"

[Mira]

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Fear of Terror Makes People Stupid


Scientists note that fear of terrorism makes people stupid.

As I've repeatedly noted, FBI agents and CIA intelligence officials, constitutional law expert professor Jonathan Turley, Time Magazine, Keith Olbermann and the Washington Post have all said that U.S. government officials "were trying to create an atmosphere of fear in which the American people would give them more power".

Indeed, the former Secretary of Homeland Security - Tom Ridge - admits that he was pressured to raise terror alerts to help Bush win reelection.

In the real world, as the National Safety Council notes:

-- You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack

-- You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack

-- You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane

-- You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack

--You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack

-- You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack

-- You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack

--You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack

--You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack

--You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist

--You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack

-- You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack

(Moreover, the chair of the 9/11 Commission said that the attack was preventable).

Indeed, much of our debt is due to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere.

And yet the top American military and intelligence officials say that debt is the main threat to our national security.



There is more here at

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/06/fear-of-terror-makes-people-stupid.html

[fascisthunter]

1. It also Maintains stupidity for the Willful Ignorant

Bigots are a perfect example.

[Rex]

2. We've seen the proof for decades now.

And I am afraid (cough) that for some people on the Right, it is now a permanent state of mind and they like it that way! Just ask Sarah Palin, she is the BEST example out there.

[Taverner]

3. Where's the war on cancer? The war on electrocution? The war on trigger-happy cops?

[hifiguy]

4. The first time I read a set of statistics like this

was sometime in 2002. I immediately stopped worrying about being killed by terrists. And I didn't stop riding in cars or airplanes, ever.

That is the way logical persons evaluate risk.

[KittyWampus]

5. Heavy duty propaganda flinging the fear our way 24/7.

[Blue Owl]

6. K&R

K&R for more people to "get with the program" -- the war on terror; the war on drugs; it's all bullshit.

[Harry J Asslinger]

11. Indeed

I long for that day in the future when these "wars" are gone and the phrase "War on such-and-such" would engender wariness and animosity to such a degree that they are unusable.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Yes, I was afraid to fly for a couple of weeks after 9/11

and considered not attending a national convention, but then, two acquaintances died suddenly, one from a cerebral hemorrhage (at 23) and the other from a blood clot following routine surgery, and I realized that there are many ways to die and no reason to be afraid of any single one.

I went to the convention, which was under-attended, and had a great time.

[SDuderstadt]

8. Very misleading subject line...

clicking on the link takes you to "washingtonsblog" which provides zero corroboration for the subject line.

[KittyWampus]

10. No, it's not. It has a bunch of embedded links to various things.

One of which talks about how we support false beliefs.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090821135020.htm

[SDuderstadt]

12. Yes, it is...

click on this link and there is no support for the subject line:

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2009/11/investor-psychology-fear-turns-people.html

The shortcut for the link is dishonestly labeled "fear of terrorism makes people stupid".

[SDuderstadt]

9. self-delete

[Wait Wut]

13. "...accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack"

WTF??? I'm already an insomniac. This won't help. Because of your post I am now going to register as a Republican to combat terror of bed linens. :scared:

[provis99]

14. heh.

[John Paul Jones]

15. They say that debt is the main threat to our national security.

But they do nothing about it.

[spin]

17. The problem is that rarely anything is done about any of the problems we face ...

and when something is done, it is a total failure.

Talk and promises are cheap but action and results are very difficult especially in our current environment where once the election is over the two major political parties fight for political gain rather than work together to solve problems.

[spin]

16. A wise man once said that the terrorists would win if they could get the U.S. government ...

to do away with the freedoms American citizens enjoy.

And of course Benjamin Franklin said:

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. We are a herd animal

things like this prove it well.

Yes I am that cynical

[pipi_k]

19. Fearful people are stupid?

I've dealt with fear every single day for nearly 50 years in the form of anxiety disorders, panic, agoraphobia, etc.

Yes, I know logically that there are way more scary (and possible) things to fear out there than, for example, my fear of going over bridges. Or my fear of losing control. Or of being "trapped" someplace.


But fear isn't something that operates on logic.

And it doesn't necessarily make people stupid.


There are people out there who are suffering from REAL FEAR of terrorist attacks. They're phobias, just as valid as a phobia of snakes or spiders or water...

Thousands upon thousands of Americans were conditioned by the Bush administration to fear terrorists. The fear is so automatic now that it can be evoked just by thinking of an act of terror.

Read about the Amygdala sometime and see how it operates.

People who have been conditioned to fear are NOT stupid.

So many of us with fear/anxiety disorders fear things that are way less dangerous than terrorism, and I don't consider any of us "stupid".