Brain trap: why are we afraid of sharks and planes more than an accident

Why are we afraid of plane crashes much more than accidents, although according to statistics, the latter lead to death much more often? It's all about cognitive distortion called “the bias of salientism.” Understanding how it works

Imagine a couple going on vacation to Egypt. The couple calmly go to the airport by taxi, but, having got on the plane, they begin to be nervous. What if there's a depressurization? Or does the pilot get sick and lose control of the car? Once at the hotel, the couple are afraid of swimming in the sea — after all, five years ago, a shark almost killed a man on the coast of Egypt. As a result, the vacation is ruined. And it is the 'bias of salience' (salience bias) that is to blame. As scientists have discovered this cognitive distortion, the word “salient” can be translated into Russian as “convexity, prominence.” The bias of salience is a phenomenon where people attach more importance to information that attracts attention. At the same time, 'boring' facts are ignored. The phenomenon was first identified by American psychologists in an experienced way in 1975. They put two students in front of each other and put other volunteers in circles around them. The latter were then asked to guess who had caused the various...