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| No entry: radiation risk |
We would like to live in a
world where we run no risks, but that is impossible. Whenever we get into a
car, cross the street, turn on the gas, or play sports, we run a risk. The most
elementary acts of our life entail a risk: breathing polluted air; getting exposed
to the natural radioactivity in buildings; passing under a roof just when a
tile is falling down... We have always known that life is synonymous with
danger, and we have adapted to that. In our time, however, it seems that the
threshold of risk we are willing to tolerate has fallen down. In other words: we are now more cowardly.
The media are largely to blame.
Trying to attract readers and increase their profits, they often encourage
states of opinion close to panic. We can see it in the way many news are
presented, especially those affecting health (mad cow syndrome, bird flu, SARS,
type A influenza, whatever...); the viability of human life on Earth (global
warming, collision with an asteroid); or the economy (times of crisis). Many of
these threats are real, but they are systematically exaggerated.
