Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go Into The Water...

After the movie Jaws came out, I never went back in the sea. When Alien debuted, I never went into space. I can't fly without sedatives. I once had a panic attack on a plane and it wasn't a pretty sight, I'll bet. Striking how we are illogically fearful of the wrong things, yes? We have emotional reactions to what we see in the news or imagine in our nightmares and then conclude it might happen to us. This process elevates even the most unlikely event to the top of our lists of things that are about to kill us. Here's a list of the actual odds of dying:

Fireworks Injury             1:386,766
Flood                             1:175,803
Earthquake                     1:148,756  (tell that to those in California)
Dog Attack                     1:120,864
Legal Execution               1:96,691
Bee, Hornet, Wasp Sting 1:71,623 (but do you know anyone who hasn't been stung?)
Cataclysmic Storm           1:46,044
Heat exposure                  1:12,517
Electrocution                    1:9,943
Air Transport Accident     1:7,032 (my risk is always much, much higher)
Firearm Discharge            1:6,309
Bicycle Accident              1:4,717
Fire                                  1:1,177
Drowning                         1:1,123
Motorcycle Accident        1:770
Car-pedestrian Accident   1:649
Assault by Firearm            1:306
Fall                                   1:171
Poisoning/Noxious Fumes 1:130
Intentional Self-Harm        1:112
Motor Vehicle Accident    1:88
Stroke                              1:28
Cancer                              1:7
Heart disease                    1:6
Shark Attack                    1:3,943,110  (but if I don't go into the water, the risk is zero!)