title: The Science of Fear: How the Culture of Fear Manipulates Your Brain
author:  Daniel Gardner 
description: An excellent work... a cheery corrective to modern paranoia.<i>The Economist</i><br /><br />An invaluable resource for anyone who aspires to think clearly.<i>The Guardian</i><br /><i></i><br />An entertaining, often jolting account of why trivial risks terrify us, even as we engage in wildly dangerous activities with hardly a qualm.<i>Kirkus</i> (starred review)<br /><i></i><br />Gardners vivid, direct style, backed up by clear examples and solid data from science and psychology, brings a breath of fresh air and common sense to an emotional topic.<i>Publisher's Weekly</i><br /><br />Elegantly weaves academic research and everyday experience, exposing the secrets of emotion and reason, and the essential roles they play on our lives. An excellent book.Dan Ariely, <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author of <i>Predictably Irrational</i><br /><i></i><br />Essential reading for anyone interested in the social mistakes we make every dayand how to fix them.Tyler Cowen, author of <i>Discover Your Inner Economist</i><br /><br />Those of us who spend our careers in research hope that someone like Daniel Gardner will come along and bring our findings to the world in an engaging and scientifically accurate way.Paul Slovic, Professor of Psychology, University of Oregon<br /><br />Compelling... By showing how to read statistics properly and engage the head over gut instinct, Gardner aims to get us thinking more carefully about how we run our livesand make it harder for politicians, the media and advertisers to lead us astray.<i>The New Scientist</i><br /><br />Terrific... As a writer, he's exceptionally goodhe has the clarity of Malcolm Gladwell.... He takes you through a maze of difficult academic work, and makes it seem simple.<i>The Evening Standard</i><br /><br />A fascinating insight into the peculiar and devastating nature of human fear, while training the reader to be ever wary of misleading media announcements.<i>The Daily Telegraph</i><br /><br />Elegantly summarizes the results of psychological research... His chapters on the risk of being a victim of crime or terrorism provoke a peculiar mix of comfort and despair. It is heartening that the danger is slight; it's unsettling how skewed our political system and consumer culture are towards convincing us of the opposite.<i>The Observer</i>
zlib_text: ![](Images/image00217.jpeg)
  
  **_Begin Reading_**
  
   _Table of Contents_
  
   _Copyright Page_
  
  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading,
  and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the
  publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual
  property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for
  review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the
  publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the
  author’s rights.
  
   ** _THE BEGINNING_**
  
  IN THE YEAR 2005, geneticists discovered the human gene that controlled both
  innate and learned forms of fear. It was called Strathmin, or Oncoprotein 18.
  Within fifteen years, genetic influencers for all primary emotions were
  similarly identified.
  
  Nearly a decade later, in the wake of a catastrophic war that destroyed much
  of civilization, humanity vowed to forsake ruinous emotion and serve the way
  of a new Or