ciphergoth comments on Five-minute rationality techniques - Less Wrong

55 Post author: sketerpot 10 August 2010 02:24AM

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Comment author: ciphergoth 12 August 2010 04:58:29PM 16 points [-]

"don't worry - that sort of thing is so rare, when it happens, it makes the news!"

Comment author: dreeves 15 August 2010 04:03:38AM 13 points [-]

Well said! Here's how Bruce Schneier put it:

Remember, if it’s in the news don’t worry about it. The very definition of news is “something that almost never happens.” When something is so common that it’s no longer news — car crashes, domestic violence — that’s when you should worry about it.

I wrote an essay about the utter irrationality of "stranger danger" based on that quote: http://messymatters.com/strangers

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 15 August 2010 09:52:06AM 3 points [-]

I think not worrying about things in the news needs some fine-tuning-- if a war is happening where you live, it will affect your safety level, and it will be in the news.

Comment author: simplicio 14 August 2010 12:51:26AM 1 point [-]

That's the canonical response now! Thanks!