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Comment by sergiotapia | Hacker News Reader

"Take me in oh tender woman, Take me in, for heaven's sake, Take me in oh tender woman," sighed the vicious snake.

This was Reddit's advice three days ago: http://i.imgur.com/M9umIy2g.png

And it's still true advice. What you're feeling now is just fear and panic. This is the entire point of a terrorist attack: it's psychological warfare. Make people think they are in grave, imminent danger, to coerce them into some action.

If you were actually more likely to die in a terrorist attack than being shot by a toddler in the USA, it probably wouldn't be a terrorist attack, it'd be something more like... an actual war.

Im sure statistics helped the people who died today

Seriously? That's what you come up with?

Statistics didn't help them any less than it helps the people accidentally killed by firearms in the US. Those people are dead too. And there are more of them. And it's just as senseless. Honestly wtf.

Using gun deaths in the united states as against global terrorism is a flawed comparison. The US has more gun deaths than the united kingdom but it also has more guns and more people. When you expand the scope of terrorism related deaths to the entire world of course it is low, nobody in iceland has to worry about being bombed but someone in brussles, turkey, iraq or syria might disagree.

I will take accidental gun deaths in the US over terrorism any day. I invite anyone on HN to go stand in northern iraq and I will stand at a shooting range all day.

You're right, accidental gun deaths are a bad and overly politically charged example to make the (valid) point about risk assessment. Car accidents are a much better example that are still far more likely to kill you in most nations, including Brussels (I'm not sure about Syria and Iraq, but I suspect there you are probably right).

Your own comparison is flawed. Standing in northern Iraq vs standing at a shooting range? What the fuck is this? Accidental gun deaths don't just happen at shooting ranges. It's children shooting their friends or parents at home. It's bystanders in gang violence.

Take any other statistic for accidental or otherwise entirely preventable deaths. People get into a fucking panic and gloss over all kinds of much more important problems because TERRORISM. This is the whole point of terrorism! To cause FEAR and PANIC in order to force us to take some political action. I'm more worried about whether I'll make it home without getting killed on the highway!

Howabout airline crashes? 34 people were bombed in Brussels? Guess what, 136 people died in airline crashes last year, and ~650 the year before! Are we going into a fucking panic about that?

Of course the people who just got bombed will disagree... but they will have an entirely biased opinion that has absolutely no relevance to the overall reality. Why the heck do people keep repeating this line? Go ask somebody who was hit by lightning if we should be worried about getting hit by lightning! It's irrelevant!

Statistics don't help those who die in plane crashes either. We're not mocking the victims. We're just supporting the original statistical argument.

Victims find no solace knowing they've suffered a highly improbably tragedy.

I wish I could automatically block any account that has throwaway in its handle

I wish I could automatically block any account that has SF in its bio

Have you ever clicked on that Y in the box at the top left of this page? There might be some valuable information about this site for you there.

I guess HN needs people to see them, to flag and downvote.

No, but statistics might help some people understand why they shouldn't give in to fear when it comes to terror attacks since there are many, many more likely ways for them to die. This is pretty important since that fear is the whole goal of these attacks, and it also provides a way for non-terrorists to manipulate people for their own ends. Although I admit this particular method of alleviating fear might only work on people on HN.

People in stretchers today would disagree with you.

This is the fear talking. An understandably emotional argument. The people in stretchers dying from all the more common causes of death than terrorism, like being accidentally shot, would like to disagree with you.

Terrorists don't kill people, guns do

Terrorists kill very few people. People driving cars kill far more people.

9 people are killed in America every day related to distracted driving. In four days distracted and texting Americans kill more people than terrorists did in Belgium. Let's have an uproar about that.

What? They would disagree that the point of terrorism is psychological warfare? You could just say "too soon", no need for emotional arguments.

Would you say the same thing if someone asked about plane safety and then the plane fell?

Statistically, it's still highly improbable. Of course, Belgium and other NATO related countries in Europe currently face a stronger possibility of crimes of this kind but actually suffering from one is unlikely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL7hvXeOAKw

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