You're scared of the wrong dangers
The things you fear may not be the things that hurt you
Some dangers make your heart race.
But the scariest dangers are often not the deadliest ones.
Your fear meter and the real numbers do not match.
In a year, what kills more people worldwide?
Sharks scare us. Coconuts do not.
A feeling of danger is not the same as the odds.
Per mile, which is more deadly?
A plane is more dangerous than a car.Tap to reveal
It feels true because plane crashes are rare, huge, and on the news. Car crashes are common and quiet. The numbers say driving is far deadlier per mile.
Now meet the dangers that scare almost no one.
In 2022, heart disease killed 699,659 people in the US.
Cancer killed 607,790 that same year.
These are the biggest real killers. Few people fear them.
(US deaths: CDC Provisional Mortality Data, 2022.)
Tap to flip between how a danger feels and how common it is.
A danger can feel enormous and still be very rare.
How scary a danger feels is one thing.
How much risk it carries is a different thing.
By the end, you will see why your fear meter misfires.
And you will learn how to read real risk.