Cosmic Log - Will searches ever catch terrorists?
"Most risks involve tradeoffs of some sort. In this case it's a risk-risk tradeoff, between getting blown up on the one hand and feeling coerced into having your privacy invaded while being exposed to minute doses of radiation on the other. If Risk 1 -- getting blown up -- doesn't feel like a real possibility, you're less willing to live with Risk 2. If the negative qualities of Risk 2 -- radiation, coercion, invasion of privacy -- feel bigger, Risk 2 will matter more than Risk 1.
"It all adds up to a kind of a silly way to think about how to protect ourselves from the constant and real threat of bad guys and bombs on planes. But then, risk perception isn't just about thinking. It's about feeling too. And in this case, what feels right ... resisting a procedure that could keep us safer ... may actually make things worse."
