Panicology

Did you dare give your child the three-in-one MMR vaccine? Afraid you’ll get so fat you’ll die before your time? Worried that Tesco/Walmart will swallow up your local store, or will we all be hit by an asteroid first?

Every day, the press warns us of some new calamity that will threaten our lives. The risks of simply being alive apparently grow ever more alarming. Life has never been better yet we live in fear. Why do we work ourselves up into such a state? Because these stories are a heady mix of supposedly scientific information and journalistic hype. Our hearts fall for the ‘story’ and our heads believe the ‘facts’.

The Fear Factor will help you make sense of the jungle of threats. It will explain why things are seldom as bad as they’re painted. Upbeat and optimistic in its world view yet robust and sceptical in its analysis, it will equip you to approach the scares of today – and tomorrow – without panic, but with rational levelheadedness – and perhaps a measure of insouciance. Shocking World is a feel-good book about the oh so desperate state we’re in.