Likewise they can produce a list of things that don't kill many people, but of which we live in dread. And it has revealed a method in our madness. Risk perception seems to attract scientists with a frisky approach to research. One experiment, for example, involved dipping a dead, sterilized cockroach into a glass of juice, then noting the percentage of people who wouldn't drink. . Using these and more orthodox approaches, risk-perception researchers have identified some general rules that cause us to greet danger with a yelp or a yawn.
Natural risks are less scary.
Perhaps this explains why we loathe nuclear power but ignore the radioactive threat of natural radon gas. Risks imposed on us seem worse. We can decide if we want to risk swimming, but when a hazardous waste incinerator sprouts next door we feel powerless and panicky. Risks with an obvious benefit are less daunting. One reason we give appreciative ratings to X-rays and surgery is that we focus on the payoff.