I have a question for you.
Out of the following forms of energy used for the production of electricity…………
Which is the most dangerous?
Nuclear, wind, solar, wave, geothermal and biomass.
Which is the most dangerous in terms of deaths per kilowatt produced?
Did you go for nuclear?
That’s what I’d have thought too.
The answer is solar.
Way more people have died falling off roofs installing solar panels than do from nuclear power related problems.
11 times as many.
The likes of coal, oil, etc are way more dangerous still, sure.
But nuclear power being safer than solar (from that perspective, at least) isn’t what any us of would’ve expected, I’m sure.
Because when someone falls off the roof it only makes the news if you’re Rod Hull.
A nuclear powerplant problem hits the media worldwide.
It’s an example of availability bias.
“A mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a given person’s mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method or decision.”
The more we have being exposed to certain examples of things (or the more extreme they are), the more likely we are for that to shape our opinion.
Even if that doesn’t fully reflect reality.
The more those around us told us that exercise was “boring” or “painful” when we were young, the more likely we are to still feel that way.
The more we hear that it’s something that we “don’t have time for”, the more things will seem to confirm that “fact”, even thought accurately recording how we use all 672 fifteen minute blocks we have in the week would soon disprove that.
Examples of “healthy eating” being boring and expensive jump readily to mind more easily than the countless examples that are neither.
Social media telling us that anything less than athlete level physique means that we’ve “failed” makes us forget how far we’ve come.
Everyone telling us that not drinking is “boring” makes it easy to forget the additional fun and enjoyment we can get by the increased energy and focus that can come from a reduction in our alcohol consumption.
There’s an expression that “we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with” and, whilst I don’t fully believe that, our behaviour can definitely be shaped by the behaviours of our peer groups and the people in our lives.
That’s why immersing ourselves in a programme like ours(cough *** here *** cough –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply) can change that availability bias, our perceptions of what’s “normal” and, therefore, what we then do.
Things we just hold to be “fact”, aren’t always that.
And being selective with how much of different sources of “information” we allow into our lives can be powerful.
Much love,
Jon ‘Danger’ Hall
P.S. Like Austin Powers innit?
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
