For everyone who follows the news.<\/p>\n
Struck by Lightning<\/em> by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a review in The Sydney Morning Herald<\/em>, David Messer writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n Tear up your lottery tickets. Scrap that plan to visit the casino. This easy-to-read guide to probability by Canadian mathematician Jeffrey Rosenthal quickly illuminates the folly of such activities. But it’s not all bad: as he explains, an understanding of probability will also allow us to stop worrying about plane crashes, crime rates, opinion polls, disease and maybe even spam.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The sad fact is that the media tends to feed a state of constant, low-grade anxiety. And when we’re in a state of constant, low-grade anxiety, we are less likely to get a clear read on actual threats when we encounter them.<\/p>\n Fear is supposed to be a gift, as per Gavin De Becker<\/a>. We need to use that gift wisely, not squander it on abstractions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For everyone who follows the news. Struck by Lightning by Jeffrey S. Rosenthal. In a review in The Sydney Morning Herald, David Messer writes: Tear up your lottery tickets. Scrap that plan to visit the casino. This easy-to-read guide to … Continue reading