Mike Palij wrote:
Has anyone read the book "Panicology"? The full title is:
Panicology: Two Statisticians Explain What's Worth Worrying
About (and What's Not) in the 21st Century by Hugh
Aldersey-Williams and Simon Briscoe
I have not. But I think I will.
The book was also reviewed on the other side of the pond along with
another volume (Dan Gardner's "Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear");
see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/mar/09/society
I have just finished this book (though with a different subtitle).
Gardner is an Ottawa-based journalist, though the book seems to have
been the outcome of a number of discussion he had with psychologists
Paul Slovic.
I thoroughly recommend the book, though do not expect it to satisfy your
most elevated scientific sensibilities. Gardner simplifies much, and
converts a lot of Tversky-&-Kahneman technical vocabulary into terms
that are more easily digestible by non-scientists (a rather crude but
serviceable dichotomy between "head" and "gut" runs throughout the
book). Still, for the general public (or even undergraduates), what they
can learn from this book might just undo some of the junk panic promoted
by everyone from gov't to advertisers to activists, etc. The chapter
near the end on "terrorism" is a pretty thorough debunking of most
everything that has gone on in the name of "security" in the past eight
years.
Chris
--
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
[email protected]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo
Office: 416-736-2100 ext. 66164
Fax: 416-736-5814
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