September 22, 2011

Death by toaster or death by terrorism?

Which do you think is more likely to kill you? A toaster or Islamic extremist terrorism? The answer may surprise you.

Security guru Bruce Schneier has written a piece entitled Terrorism in the U.S. Since 9/11. As a critic of the excesses of the United States of America’s response to the events of September 11, 2001, Schneier compares the spending on anti-terrorism with the number of lives saved.

In my opinion, the most interesting part was where he refers to a Comparison of Annual Fatality Risks published deep inside Hardly Existential: Terrorism as a Hazard to Human Life by John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart:

You have a 1 in 1,500,000 chance of being killed by a home appliance every year in the United States, but only a 1 in 3,500,000 chance of being killed by terrorism.

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Stephen Cope is more than a little cautious about believing studies that defy belief. He wants to see the numbers first. See all posts by Stephen Cope »

Comments

  • avatar
    Amy Russell

    Nice! You might enjoy the “toaster v shark” debate on the BBC’s “More Or Less” stats show: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sgbr5

    13 years ago

    • avatar
      Stephen Cope

      Amy, thanks for the link to that debate. It was quite an interesting show and had a rather amusing reenactment at the end. Cheers.

      13 years ago