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The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger Hardcover – July 17, 2008

by Daniel Gardner (Author)

83 customer reviews

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A provocative analysis of the scientific causes of irrational fear offers insight into the brain's role in causing people to experience and react to fear, in a fast-paced report that explains how heightened fear in the post-9/11 world is dangerously intersecting with biologically driven responses. 25,000 first printing.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gardner, a columnist and senior writer for the Ottawa Citizen, is both matter-of-fact and entertaining in this look at fear and how it shapes our lives. Although we are capable of reason, says Gardner, we often rely instead on intuitive snap judgments. We also assume instinctively, but incorrectly, that [i]f examples of something can be recalled easily, that thing must be common. And what is more memorable than headlines and news programs blaring horrible crimes and diseases, plane crashes and terrorist attacks? In fact, such events are rare, but their media omnipresence activates a gut-level fear response that is out of proportion to the likelihood of our going through such an event. It doesn't help that scientific data and statistics are often misunderstood and misused and that our risk assessment is influenced less by the facts than by how others respond. Gardner's vivid, direct style, backed up by clear examples and solid data from science and psychology, brings a breath of fresh air and common sense to an emotional topic. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Daniel Gardner is a columnist and senior writer for The Ottawa Citizen . He has received numerous awards for his writing, including Amnesty InternationalÂs Media Award and the Michener Award.

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (July 17, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0525950621
ISBN-13: 978-0525950622
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 83 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,054,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2575 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Emotions
- #2797 in Books > Business & Money > Skills > Decision Making
- #3191 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Decision-Making & Problem Solving

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Peter neuwirth

An extraordinary and important book

March 29, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I truly believe this is one of the most important books written in the 15 years since 9/11 changed our view of the world. So much of the misery and mischief in the world is due to unreasoning, or even worse, manufactured fear (not just of terrorism, but of much much more). This book reveals the mechanisms behind our fears and the forces that perpetuate them. Highly readable and air tight in its analysis, there were "ahah's" for me on almost every page. I have just purchased multiple copies and intend to give them as gifts to people I care about. I encourage others to do the same. FDR was right, Fear is truly what we need to fear most

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E. MitchellTop Contributor: Photography

Excellent book - highly recommended for everyone to read

October 30, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Great book. I've been reading on the field of "propaganda" the past two years, as a hobby. I am interested in how social media is used to spread propaganda messaging. People often "share" commercially produced propaganda items without first "thinking", and they share items that are misquotes, cherry picked, exaggerated, time adjusted, or just not true - in the hopes of influencing their "friends". Much of it is very cleverly designed to create an emotional response within seconds - the message typically sounds "plausible" (as long you ignore the details) - and has a big "Share if you agree!" statement at top or bottom.

Unfortunately, most of us are not comfortable pointing out to our friends that what they just shared is not true. As a result, social media has become a friction-less conduit for the spread of propaganda.

Propaganda messaging relies on several basic concepts and approaches to effectively persuade others. "Fear" is one of the most powerful methods and it is used frequently to "Scare" us into action or agreement. Daniel Gardner explains how this "culture of fear" is created, maintained and used to manipulate us in to actions or at least to agree with those promoting a cause or goal. He shows numerous real world examples of how activists, business leaders and politicians have used fear to push things that range from not actually true, to great exaggeration of reality. This is successful because (1) people often rely on Kahneman's System 1 "intuitive" thinking versus the rational/data-backed detail thinking of System 2 (also see Kahneman's book Thinking Fast and Slow) and they intuitively arrive at the wrong conclusions, and (2) most people misjudge or evaluate risk incorrectly. The result is that very unlikely scenarios are made to appear quite likely and end up scaring us into action.

I've learned from my readings that our media is filled with useless fluff "stories" (not news) and numerous scare mongering "stories" about fictitious projections into the future made by people wishing to influence and manipulate us. This is concept is reiterated by Gardner in Culture of Fear.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. Recognizing how everyone has been working overtime to use "fear" to scare us, I've actually seen my own anxiety levels decrease. So much of our media - and "friends" on social media - continue to try to scare us into adopting their own agendas for their own interests. But it is little more than scare mongering. Once you cut through that idea, its easy to begin ignoring it, reduce our anxiety levels and sleep much better at night.

If your kids suffer from anxiety consider it might be because the whole world is literally trying to scare them to death, even though we really do live in the best of times, historically. Think about it.

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Money Honey

Interesting Insight into the Human Psyche

March 4, 2009

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

The Science of Fear is an in-depth look at what drives people to fear things that, in reality, pose little threat to our existence. The book is enlightening, and I found myself looking at the world around me differently after reading it. The book combines real world examples with the science behind it, providing a thorough explanation for why we fear the things we do, the impact our environment has on the development of these fears, and most notably, how to recognize these biases in ourselves and others. While the book won't necessarily change the way you react to media reports, the fears of our families or friends, or the stories we may hear from politicians or action groups, it does help put them in perspective and better reflect the reality of the fear. The book's main con is that it is a bit dry, and it isn't necessarily an easy read. Its a book you would read because you are interested in learning about the subject, but not necessarily one you would become engrossed in.

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Nancy

Well-researched & highly relevant

February 7, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This book is based on solid psychological research. It expands on the work of Daniel Kahneman in his book "Thinking Fast and Slow".
Gardner's thesis is that we are manipulated by the media and politicians into fearing dangers that are often highly improbable--but which make interesting news--all while we are led to underestimate the likelihood of dangers that are far more probable and consequential to our lives. The veracity of this thesis has been proven time and again, yet we still mostly fall for it. Look at the current political controversy over gun control for the most recent example.
The book is well worth reading. I didn't give it five stars because I had just finished reading Kahneman's book. There is overlap between the two.

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