Terror

Something that crops up occasionally at my gang's Thursday lunches is the way people use computers. I have this theory that people subconsciously learn to do things a certain way because that way works, and because over methods they tried either didn't work, or did something bad, like crash the computer. So the procedure they use to do something may be overly complex, or seem wrong headed, but it works and it gets the computer to do what they want, so they use it. To someone else, it may appear that there is a quicker, simpler way to get the job done, but the person doing the work doesn't know that and is not interested in investing the time to try and find another technique that may not work.

One the of mainstays of reports on terrorism in the paper is that people are afraid. It occurred to me the other day that this is most probably hogwash. I am not afraid of a terrorist attack, and I suspect very few other Americans are either. So where do they get this "people are afraid" business? All I can think is that some reporter stuck a microphone in someone's face shortly after a nearby bombing and asked the person if they were afraid, and the person seeing their chance for their 15 seconds of fame stepped into the role being offered by the reporter and agreed, that "oh, yes, I am terribly afraid".

So I have these two thoughts stored away somewhere in my brain and they must have collided because I came up with a new thought. While I am not consciously afraid of a terrorist attack, subconsciously I might be. Has my behavior been subconsciously influenced by the news of terrorist attacks in the United States? And if so, how would I know?

On the other hand, there are some things I do that could be attributed to fear, but could also be attributed to personal preference. Things like avoiding big crowds like one would encounter at sporting events or shopping malls. That is all I can think of right now. If I come up with any more, I will try to remember to add them to this list.