Now that the bulk of my MSST program has concluded, I have time to start reading the books I’ve been adding to my Amazon Wish List for the past year or so. The first book I picked up from the library was Fear Less by Gavin de Becker, about terrorism, risk, and just how lousy we are at actually estimating the chances of terrible things happening to us. It’s a very quick book to read, with a few simple messages: humans are terrible at estimating risks, big scary things are much less likely to kill you than mundane things, and don’t listen to media fear-mongering. There’s also a list of resources for people who want more information that is objective, not inflammatory.
The book came out shortly after 9/11 and was rushed to completion to get on the shelves quickly, and this rushed feeling sometimes shows. Also, for me, it didn’t have much new information that I hadn’t already seen before through my studies and other authors like Bruce Schneier. However, it was an enjoyable book, and it’s a good place to start if you are looking for a book to calm your nerves during Shark Summer or Earthquake Summer or Kidnapping Summer or whatever it will be this month.