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5/20/2014

Fear of the Unknown: Why a False Solution Doesn't Solve a False Problem

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I would bet good money that 98 percent of people out there will say they are more afraid of sharks than lions.  But why?

Shark enthusiast that I am, I still find it easier to IMAGINE myself having a fun-filled, cuddly day with a lion instead of a shark.  Why?  Not because of my knowledge and experience with lions, but because of WHAT I THINK I KNOW about lions.  I’ve never encountered a lion in the wild.  In fact I’ve only seen one in a zoo, TV, or book.  But my impression of lions is one of a mammal that lives in a social, family-oriented lifestyle that is warm, furry, licks its cubs, and eats small, deer-like things such as antelope (not people).  All of that information I gained because of what I read or saw on TV.  In summary, I’ve never encountered a lion yet fear is far from the first thing on my mind when a lion is brought up in conversation.

Contrast that with a shark.  Despite a growing number of shark enthusiasts there remains an extremely small percentage of people on this planet who have encountered or seen a living shark.  Yet the majority of this same percentage of people who have never seen a shark will tell you they are afraid of sharks.  Again, not based on what they actually know of sharks from experience, but from what they have heard or seen on TV, the theater, other people, the news, etc.


"...The cull is a security blanket that won’t protect people from sharks any better than a nightlight will protect us from monsters under the bed."

Statistically this makes no sense.  By the numbers, lions blow sharks out of the water in terms of people killed and even numbers of people eaten.  Yes, that’s a bit of a loaded statistic since humans and lions are both land-based animals, but still, the bottom line is that lions can, do, and will kill continue to kill a !$#%* load more people than sharks.  Shouldn’t that scare you?  ONE lion named, Namvelieza, killed 43 people. That single lion more than doubled the number of people killed by every shark of every species on the ENTIRE PLANET on average per year!!  Aren’t actual statistics of people killed and eaten what we should base our fear on?  No.  Because that’s not how fear works.

Here’s a little psychological exercise about fear I performed on myself that leveled the playing field between lions and sharks a bit.  I imagined myself magically alone in the Serengeti with an adult lion not too far away from me.  Next I imagined myself on SCUBA, alone in the ocean, with an adult white shark not too far away from me.  Guess what?  I am less concerned about the white shark than the lion.  Why?  I am more familiar with the shark than the lion.  I’ve encountered white sharks enough times over the last decade that I feel confident that my chances of survival are quite high.  Note that I’m not declaring myself a shark whisperer or that I am even correct in feeling safer, in fact that’s the point; the feeling I have is a product of my perception of a situation I am familiar with.  The lion on the other hand I don’t really know much about.  I can try to apply what I think I know about encountering a lion in the wild, but that pales in comparison to the confidence of real life experiences with the white shark.

Conclusion:

When we cull sharks, we aren’t saving people from sharks, we’re saving them from fear.  We fear what we don’t know; what we are unfamiliar with.  Naturally, we are less familiar with the world under the ocean (sadly, we’re rather unfamiliar with the world above the surface as well).  This allows us to fall victim to false information and even our own imaginations.  When it comes to sharks, fear is the real problem, not the shark.  Sooooo many things on this planet kill soooo many more people than sharks do. In fact the numbers are so low it’s debatable whether shark incidences should even qualify as “a problem”.  

The issue is unfounded fear.  The cull helps solve unfounded fear with unfounded mitigation.  It makes people feel better.  Therefore the cull actually does solve a problem so to speak as long as one admits that the problem is fear and the cull is a security blanket that won’t protect people from sharks any better than a nightlight will protect us from monsters under the bed.  But once you admit that you have to ask the question, “is it to OK to kill things just because we’re afraid of them?”

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  • Shark Blog
    • Watching Humans Blog
  • Monsters
  • About
    • Monsters - Project Overview
  • Education / Events
    • Presentations
    • Bookings
    • Feedback
    • Past Events >
      • Shark Night
      • Sharktoberfest 2018
      • Surfrider Sharktober 2018
      • Surfrider Foundation (San Mateo Chapter)
      • Night Life 2013 "Killer Personalities"
      • 7 Teepees
      • Great White Lies San Francisco Premiere
      • SF March Against the Cull
      • Great White Night 2012
      • Night Life 2011
      • Gentlemen's Club
      • Scuba Squad Divers
      • Sharks and Beer
      • Launch Party / Fundraiser
      • Of Whale and Man
    • FALSE CONSERVATION >
      • OCEARCH >
        • OCEARCH OVERVIEW
        • Internal Damage
        • Fin Damage >
          • Frodo's Fin Damage Timeline
        • OCEARCH's Pregnant Shark Not Pregnant
        • Science...without the Science
        • OCEARCH Videos >
          • Sinking Away
          • Not Stressed
          • Charlie Rose 1
          • Dorsal Fin Damage
          • PAT tags VS. SPOT tags
          • Tagging Options
          • Message to Australia
  • Videos
    • Stupid Things People Say About Sharks
    • Racism and Sharks
    • Connection
    • 360s Drones and Sharks
    • Footage Licensing
    • Tiger Shark Vs. Turtle
    • Guadalupe Cage Dive Guide
    • minioncam
    • Guadalupe White Sharks 2018
    • Product Reviews
    • Interviews >
      • Guadalupe 2018 Interview
      • Andre Rerekuru
      • RodneyFox
      • Chris Neff >
        • Cape Cod Cull
      • WalterBernardis
    • SharkMinutes
    • Kid Friendly >
      • Blueprint
    • Feature Films >
      • Monsters >
        • Enterprise Documentary Fund
      • Great White Lies >
        • Film Festivals >
          • Dropbox Links Great White Lies
    • Short Films >
      • Victory Over Sharks
      • Mothers and Children
      • Sentience
      • Elasmo
      • Shark Rescue
      • Balance
      • Shark Affection
      • Purpose
      • To Touch a Killer
      • Swimming In Shark Alley
      • White Shark Behavior: Part 1
      • Connection
      • Farallon Islands
      • Sustainable
      • Fear
    • Quick Bites >
      • Nurse Shark Barbels in Slow Motion
      • Do Sharks Get Cancer?
      • Sydney Harbor Video of White Shark is Fake
      • White Shark Swallows Tuna in One Bite
      • Gentle Biting and Ram Ventilation
      • Hammerhead Love
      • Seal Swims Leisurely Around White Sharks
      • Great White High Five
      • Petting a Nurse Shark
      • White Shark Tail Narrowly Misses Woman
      • Shark Shart ( Great White takes a shit )
      • WSV Preview
    • Elasmo >
      • Elasmo 0
      • Elasmo 1 and 2
      • Elasmo 3
      • Elasmo 3 Short Version
      • Elasmo 4 (Blue Sharks)
      • Elasmo 5 - Great hammerheads
      • White Dream (short)
    • Surf >
      • Surfing With Sharks - Wayne Lynch
      • California >
        • Jetty, Half Moon Bay, 2/16/14
    • The Price of Existence >
      • Criminalizing Natural Behavior
      • Price of Existence Excerpts with Chris Fallows
      • Dr. Neil Hammerschlag Explains Responsible Drum Lining
      • Price of Existence Trailer
      • Global Opposition to the Cull
      • Daniel Wolfe Interview Exerpt
    • Outtakes >
      • Surfer Interview Outtake
      • Avoiding Gansbaai
      • The Bag Boy
    • Samples
    • Videos from Others >
      • Good Vids >
        • White Shark Research in New Zealand
        • The Shark Man (60 Minutes)
        • Baby White Shark Caught
      • Bad Vids >
        • All that is wrong with Discovery wrapped up in one vid