Numbers are Hard

Currently everybody is going crazy about the Swine Flu. Sure it’s scary because it’s new and we don’t know much about it, and it seems to be spreading, but really, it’s not much of a threat yet. Right now I think it’s mostly hype. News now days all seems to be about hype. It’s more about getting good ratings rather than getting the facts out there.

Less than 200 people worldwide have died from Swine Flu. Sure, death is never good, but that number is miniscule, 35,000 people die every year just in the US from the ordinary flu. Obviously the world wide numbers are even much greater.

It’s just like the terrorist scares. How much money has been spent to make us “supposedly” safer? Your own appendix, your car, and yes, the common flu are all much more likely to kill you than a terrorist.

People are just bad at understanding statistics. All the casinos, and people that play the lottery proves that. My Mom can go to Aruba on her timeshare, but she said she would never go there because they kidnap people down there. What? Sure there was a sad story of a kidnapping down there that was plastered all over the news for ratings, but I am willing to bet there are more kidnappings and even higher crime rates here in the US.

I am not a huge fan of flying, but I am not scared for my life. I realize I am much more likely to get killed on the drive to the airport, than I am in a plane crash. Flying is the quickest and safest way to travel. It also makes great ratings on the rare occasion that a plane goes down. It’s stupid to live your life in fear of things you can’t control.