How to Live Dangerously
The Hazards of Helmets, the Benefits of Bacteria, and the Risks of Living Too Safe
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Warwick Cairns' How to Live Dangerously is a no-nonsense, wonderfully entertaining manifesto on the real dangers of modern life, and an inspiring lesson in why we could all stand to worry a little less and live a whole lot more.
We live in a world governed by fear. Fear of second-hand smoke, bacteria, terrorists, bird flu, nuclear energy. The world isn't as safe a place as it once was, as 78 percent of Americans agree. And yet, life expectancy has never been higher. Crime rates have plunged. Even unintentional injuries are down more than fifty percent from half a century ago. So if we're so safe, why are we so afraid?
How to Live Dangerously is a hilarious, straight-talking look at the things that terrify us. It considers life's real risks, not to mention the often ridiculous methods we've contrived to keep ourselves "safe." It encourages you to ignore fearmongers and embrace a new kind of freedom, in which we all worry a little less—and live a whole lot more.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cairns' droll, entertaining book examines how we've become a world of people afraid of the world: "survey after survey shows that most people, nowadays, believe the world to be a far more dangerous place now than it was in the past." Not only do we worry too much, we worry about the wrong things. With a witty, occasionally whiny British inflection, Cairns catalogs the innocuous things that grab our attention (airplane crashes), the real dangers we rarely consider (hundreds of thousands home gardening accidents), and the real victims: the children. Along with many funny, outrageous anecdotes illustrating a society whose members are no longer willing to take responsibility for their own safety or well being, Cairns makes many salient points about litigation, obese children and the pacifying effects of the safety state (ironically, the safest course of action may be the one that seems the most dangerous, since we become more cautious when we perceive danger). Cairn's lighthearted approach is informative and easy to read, in spite of occasionally obscure British references, and should briefly alleviate anxiety, if only because it's hard to worry and smile simultaneously.
