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A Look at Biases and Risks

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MOST PEOPLE WOULD SAY SHARKS

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BUT THE REAL ANSWER IS COWS

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Micromort Unit of acute risk 1 in 1,000,000 chance of dying

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Availability Bias Bad News Effect

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= report on shark attacks = report on cow stampedes = 66 U.S. results on NY Times MORE LIKELY TO BE ATTACKED BY SHARKS =1 result on NY Times LESS LIKELY TO BE ATTACKED BY COWS

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Time Magazine declared 2001 the Summer of the Shark. The Thereafter, any encounter with a shark made prime time news. 2001: 5 Worldwide Killed in 76 Attacks 2000: 12 Worldwide Killed in 85 Attacks

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Annual Shark Week every Summer 55 Wiki pages in Category: Films about Sharks

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7 Wiki pages in Category: Films about Cows

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41,149 suicides U.S. 2013 16,121 homicides U.S. 2013

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Too many movies 533 Wiki pages in Category: Serial Killer Films

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170 Wiki pages in Category: Films about Suicide

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TAKE HOME: Media can have a huge influence in the biases we hold because of how available and memorable it portrays events.

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http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120209-a-lesson-in-risk http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120209-a-lesson-in-risk http://www.stubbornmule.net/2010/12/micromorts/ http://www.stubbornmule.net/2010/12/micromorts/ http://io9.com/introducing-a-unit-of-death-1450909092 http://io9.com/introducing-a-unit-of-death-1450909092 http://plus.maths.org/content/os/issue55/features/risk/index http://plus.maths.org/content/os/issue55/features/risk/index http://wnyyradio.com/news/25-shocking-things-more-likely-to-kill-you-than-a-shark/ http://wnyyradio.com/news/25-shocking-things-more-likely-to-kill-you-than-a-shark/ http://www.google.com/trends/ http://www.google.com/trends/ http://mentalfloss.com/article/51181/micromorts-your-guide-living-longer http://mentalfloss.com/article/51181/micromorts-your-guide-living-longer http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/homicide.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/how-scared-should-we-be/?_r=0 http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/how-scared-should-we-be/?_r=0 http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/sharks-and-people/shark-attack-media-hype-or-shark-truth/ http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/sharks-and-people/shark-attack-media-hype-or-shark-truth/ http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection&region=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgty pe=Homepage#/cow+stampedes/since1851/allresults/1/allauthors/relevance/U.S./ http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection&region=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgty pe=Homepage#/cow+stampedes/since1851/allresults/1/allauthors/relevance/U.S./ http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection&region=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgty pe=Homepage#/shark+attacks/since1851/allresults/1/allauthors/relevance/U.S./ http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection&region=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgty pe=Homepage#/shark+attacks/since1851/allresults/1/allauthors/relevance/U.S./ http://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenmeyer/2012/07/12/summer-of-the-shark-global-warming-edition/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/warrenmeyer/2012/07/12/summer-of-the-shark-global-warming-edition/ http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/sharks-and-people/shark-attack-media-hype-or-shark-truth/ http://www.sharksavers.org/en/education/sharks-and-people/shark-attack-media-hype-or-shark-truth/