[ExI] Probability of being affected by terrorism [WAS Re: Mass transit]

[spike]

... On Behalf Of Anders Sandberg
...

I have put up my calculations now at
http://www.aleph.se/andart/archives/2011/01/_how_dangerous_is_it_to_be_in_a_
crowd.html

A fun finding is that indeed, elevators are more dangerous than large
crowds. Terrorism makes super-large crowds more dangerous, but the effect is
minor (since terrorism is usually a minor cause of death). 
Incidentally, I noticed that school shootings seem to have a power law
distribution with exponent about -2.
...
-- 
Anders Sandberg

I hope you are right Anders.  I dread the day when terrorists discover the
multiplier effect of triggering a panicked stampede, by setting off three
relatively small explosions in succession in a stadium for instance, then
watching a couple hundred thousand infidels simultaneously decide that
anywhere is safer than where they are currently sitting, who then in unison
make a murderous attempt to get somewhere else, anywhere else.  

My one and only attendance at a rock concert had me thinking about what I
would do in a stampede.

spike