Crazy making - bird flu

There is so much in our modern media environment that is crazy making. Most of the alarmist news is just that alarmist news, calculated to emotionally arouse audiences. Aroused viewers and readers will stay glued to the TV or magazine so that the media source can brag to advertisers about their high number of viewers/readers.

Alarmist stories make us crazy because we unnecessarily believe the hype. We can't tell reality from hyperbole anymore. The media is not after the truth but outrage because outrage sells better than truth.

The antidote to outraged delusion is media literacy and critical thinking.

This article is the first in a series tagged, "Crazy making". I hope that readers will begin to think more critically about the issues which the media is constantly presenting them with so that a more thoughtful and realistic appraisal of the environment is made.

After 8 years of the Bush administration, we need a mental environment which is reality based not ideologically based, but so far it doesn't seem that the democrats are doing much better.

Remember all the hype about bird flu through the winter of 2005-2006 that was supposed to wipe out a large proportion of the Earth's population?

Here's what Briscoe and Aldersey-Williams say in their new book, Panicology"

"Throughout the winter of 2005-2006, this was billed as an impending human pandemic that would wipe out a large proportion of the Earth's population. Yet the H5N1 type of flu virus has lead to the deaths of fewer than 300 people world wide, mostly in Asia where victims came in direct contact with infected birds." p. 1

Did you loose sleep over this?

No, how about the swine flu?

Drunk drivers kill 17,000 people per year. About 500 in New York State. About 25 in Monroe County, NY.

What should you be worried about?

It's not the bird flu or swine flu. It's the drunk driver in your house and next door. He or she is much more likely to kill you than bird or swine flu combined.

Did you notice number of beer commercials on TV or in your magazines? Do you think the breweries and distilleries want the stories told about the liklihood their products will contribute to human death and destruction? It would be bad for business. Better to worry about chickens and pigs who can't defend themselves and leave the breweries and distilleries alone.

This is article #1 in a series on Crazy Making.