Sunday, June 17, 2012

The Furniture Security Threat


Americans Are as Likely to Be Killed by Their Own Furniture as by Terrorism


Invasions of IKEA, Pottery Barn, and Crate and Barrel are already in the planning stages.


4 comments:

James R said...

Why can't we, as caring, rational citizens, and the government, get our priorities straight? Can someone make up a chart showing government spending on security from terrorism versus furniture?

Big Myk said...

In some ways, even more incredibly, a German academic specializing in risk, Gerd Gigerenzer, has estimated that 1,595 Americans died in car accidents in the year after the attacks due solely to the increase in road use following 9/11 because people feared flying.

But the reaction to 9/11 is less insidious than one might think. As this article points out, the human brain is a poor judge of risk. It still judges risk as if we had not yet left the jungles. Why the Human Brain Is a Poor Judge of Risk

James R said...

Again, this is a nice humorous piece. Good for party chat. I do like that article you referenced in your comment. It's a nice, short, reasonable assessment of how we judge risk. I remember James posting something on this also. I also side with the guy who steps away from the window when he hears the sound. Although the risk he rationally judges is almost nil, he has been there, and it doesn't require much effort to take a step.

Big Myk said...

Yes, and because of the massive media coverage of 9/11, we've all been there.