We’re fighting terrorism wrong.
That’s the argument from a growing chorus of psychologists, security experts, and economists who say our response to 9/11 has been exactly what the terrorists wanted: expensive, paranoid, and self-defeating.
“Terrorism is a form of psychological warfare,” explains Bruce Schneier, a security technologist. “The goal isn’t to kill people—it’s to create fear. And we’ve been incredibly cooperative.”
Consider the numbers: Since 2001, Americans have been more likely to die from lightning strikes, bee stings, or falling furniture than from terrorism. Yet we’ve spent trillions on security theater—removing shoes at airports, monitoring phone calls, invading countries—while statistically significant threats go unaddressed.
The psychology is straightforward: Humans are terrible at assessing risk. We overestimate dramatic, rare events (plane crashes, terrorist attacks) and underestimate common ones (car accidents, heart disease).
Terrorists exploit this cognitive bias. They don’t need to kill millions—just create spectacular, memorable attacks that hijack our threat-assessment systems.
[Continue reading at Wired...]