The Science Of Fear

I almost forgot to get back to this. I highly recommend it. (And if you want to borrow it, my copy is available.) Once you're familiar with the different rules involved, it's a snap to recognize the behaviors in people, even yourself.

Here's a quote from the book I'm partial to:

In reality, the fact that a politician may have something to gain by promoting a threat does not mean he or she does not believe the threat is real. This goes for the pharmaceutical industry, security companies, and all the others who promote and profit from fear. In fact, I'm quite sure that in most cases those promoting fear and sincere, for the simple reason that humans are compulsive rationalizers. People like to see themselves as being basically good, and so admitting that they are promoting fear in others in order to advance their interests set up a nasty form of cognitive dissonance: I know I'm basically a nice person; what I'm doing is awful and wrong.

There's no end to the examples I could bring up.