[extropy-chat] Re: Bad Bayesian - no biscuit! (was A New Year's gift for Bayesians)

[Stephen Van_Sickle]

--- Eliezer Yudkowsky <sentience at pobox.com> wrote:

>Experiments in cognitive psychology show that people
>fear air travel more than car travel.  Why?  Because 
>airplane accidents are more frequently 
>reported in the media. 

There are other possible reasons.  For one, air travel
is further removed from everyday experience (to our
ancestors) than is driving.  Driving *feels* like
running very fast, whereas flying is different
altogether.

For another, you are trusting yourself to someone
else.  Many people are more comfortable driving
themselves than being driven, and the same holds true
for many pilots.