Death by toaster or death by terrorism?
Which do you think is more likely to kill you? A toaster or Islamic extremist terrorism? The answer may surprise you.
Security guru Bruce Schneier has written a piece entitled Terrorism in the U.S. Since 9/11. As a critic of the excesses of the United States of America’s response to the events of September 11, 2001, Schneier compares the spending on anti-terrorism with the number of lives saved.
In my opinion, the most interesting part was where he refers to a Comparison of Annual Fatality Risks published deep inside Hardly Existential: Terrorism as a Hazard to Human Life by John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart:
You have a 1 in 1,500,000 chance of being killed by a home appliance every year in the United States, but only a 1 in 3,500,000 chance of being killed by terrorism.
Stephen Cope is more than a little cautious about believing studies that defy belief. He wants to see the numbers first. See all posts by Stephen Cope »
Nice! You might enjoy the “toaster v shark” debate on the BBC’s “More Or Less” stats show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sgbr5
13 years ago
Amy, thanks for the link to that debate. It was quite an interesting show and had a rather amusing reenactment at the end. Cheers.
13 years ago