Macroscope | Our minds are preoccupied with tiny risks, ignoring the real challenges
From Ebola and Sars to flying and nuclear power, emotional responses distract us from dealing with the larger threats that we face
As of today, about 1,500 people have died from Ebola disease. Many are in a quiet panic about the threat. Some airlines are stopping flights to Guinea, where the latest outbreak emerged at the end of last year, and to countries nearby.
But let's get some perspective here. In 2012, the latest year covered by World Health Organisation data, more than 800,000 people died worldwide of malaria. More than 2.4 million died from diarrhoea. Ebola is ugly, but in the bigger picture of wanting to stay alive, there are more important things to worry about.
I was reminded of the same thing a month ago when there was a global panic about flying - in particular, with Malaysia Airlines - following the MH17 tragedy over Ukraine.
In terms of "per kilometre travelled", you are 100,000 times more likely to die on a motorcycle than on a plane - and 2,000 times more likely to die in a car accident.
We are appalling at assessing risk. We obsess about tiny possibilities and casually neglect the things that can really harm us.
People smoke cigarettes, which contribute to more than a quarter of all the 56 million deaths in the world every year, but then spend large sums on sun screen and hide from the sun to avoid the risk of skin cancer (which causes 77,000 deaths a year worldwide, fewer than a quarter the number that die from drowning).
