Critique of perpetual public alarm: The Trust the Evidence Scare Scale
This article critiques the modern phenomenon of perpetual public alarm, where governments, public health agencies, and media issue a constant stream of warnings about potential crises (meningococcal disease, avian influenza, hantavirus, Ebola, extreme weather). The author argues that these warnings create a culture of permanent fear, with one scare barely fading before another replaces it. The piece introduces a satirical "Trust the Evidence Scare Scale" to measure how frightened people are on a given day, suggesting that the volume and frequency of warnings may be disproportionate to actual risks.
Key quotes
We live in an age of permanent alarm.
Hardly a day passes without a fresh warning from governments, public health agencies or the media that the next crisis is already upon us—or just around the corner.
Barely has one scare faded before another arrives to take its place.
And there is always another waiting in the wings.
Public health agencies now issue a near-continuous stream of
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