From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Wed Sep 12 2001 - 17:46:49 MDT
> Objectively, terrorism does not pose a significant risk to the life
> of the average American. Over 6,000 people die every day in the US.
> We'd have to have a WTC disaster at least every couple of weeks in order
> to significantly affect overall mortality rates.
I was having a very similar conversation with some of my coworkers
yesterday. Examining the roots of our (societal) complete disregard for the
6000/day -- each of which is a personal tragedy for someone -- compared to
the reactions to current events is enlightening. I'm thinking about writing
something on that topic for the Longevity Meme. If anyone else want to beat
me to it, please let me know; I'd like to publish it.
> I don't mean to say that we should be callous about death. But rather,
> we should recognize that we are surrounded by death. Over a hundred
> thousand people die every day, many of them unnecessarily even by
> today's standards. It's an inconceivable tragedy. Just being alive
> today, we face horrors from which I believe future generations will
> shrink in disbelief. Given this reality, the additional increment of
> suffering a few terrorists can impose is relatively small. We should
> not give them too much weight.
This is exactly the point I wish to make; waking people up to this
perception is one of the first goals of the Longevity Meme. If we could just
make that connection in mainstream society/media between the numbers and
shock and the need to do something about aging on as grand a scale as
possible. It's like grasping at soap, trying to make the ends meet.
Reason
http://www.exratio.com/
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