Panicology - Simon Briscoe

Panicology - Simon Briscoe and Hugh Aldersey-Williams. I bought this book from Amazon (£14) after reading a review on Dooyoo, the idea that the media and governments whip up panic has long interested me. I have to say, whilst not a conspiracy theorist, I do think it suits media and government ends to have the general public scared and looking for the big brother(s) to help us. ~~~The Authors~~~ Simon Briscoe works as Statistics Editor at The Financial Times and has worked in statistics in Government, the EU and the Treasury, so is a bit of a statistics buff. Hugh Aldersey-Williams is a freelance journalist who seems to be ...  Read the complete review

In Panicology, two British writers ( with a background in social and natural sciences) attempt to put some sense into the most popular scare stories that have appeared in the media in recent years. They analyse each of the subjects showing how the wide social factors (including the combined influence of media seeking sensation, political agendas of the government and opposition and changing social trends) contribute to the perception of risks and creation of panics - moral and otherwise. Apart from reminding us of a lot of ways in which the human mind is not very good at dealing with statistical data, the authors also - at least half seriously - propose a ...  Read the complete review