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Comment by alyandon | Hacker News Reader

Who do they pick when they conduct these surveys? I don't live my life any differently regardless of the relative threat of terrorism vs vehicle accidents vs any other violent crime vs getting struck by a meteor.

Am I really that much of an outlier?

Edit: For those that are downvoting me - I live in a large urban area with large urban area related crime problems that actually has had a terrorism related incident. Mind providing an explanation?

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Terrorism is presently a major political issue.

People probably don't live their lives any differently because of it. Many do support shaping government policy around to an extent that is not easily justified by data.

>Am I really that much of an outlier?

No. Most people just live. They go to work, they go home, they sleep, maybe have a few drinks on the weekends, but their lives are not driven by fear of some nebulous thing like guns or terrorism. As a general rule most people's lives are not affected by the scary things on the news, save for the content of their facebook timelines.

>> It asks 1,500 adults what they fear most.

Ask 1,500 citizens in Baltimore, St. Louis, Memphis...

Having lived in Baltimore for 7 years, I was far more afraid of crossing the street than guns per se as the violent crime was fairly localized until about a year before I moved. That said, guns ranked far higher than terrorism, which is basically down at the bottom of my list with bears and being crushed by vending machines.

You probably don't watch enough cable "news" where fear and outrage keep you glued to the screen.

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