Real risks

Moreover, selectively alarmist coverage can harm us just by making us worried. In a contest between stress and BPA or mercury, stress is far and away the greater risk (see Robert Sapolsky’s book, “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” which summarizes a lot of the research linking stress to a wide range of serious ailments). The more worried we are, the worse it is for our health. The stress from alarmism is a risk all by itself. Coverage of the potential dangers of modern technological and scientific progress, with minimized mention of the associated benefits, also contributes to mistrust about progress and science themselves. Genetically modified food, nuclear power and other applications of radiation, new products for the pharmaceutical industry – they all have tradeoffs. But when we hear more about the risks than the benefits, the dangers focus our attention.