The human being is vulnerable. We are afraid of shark attacks, rhinos, spiders, needles, meteors and kidnapping. But what really happens is that most of our fears are vastly overrated because they are unlikely to happen. We live in a society which promotes fear, converting daily news into terrifying and epic stories possible to make any person faint. We have been shooting horror movies which recreate a shocking and petrifying experience but what for?

You know what’s even stranger? American football. Instead of running away from scary things that are highly improbable, football players run into each other on purpose. Real hard. The average number of on-field deaths is the same number of deaths caused by shark attacks. But how come people aren’t afraid of this risky sport? Our brains were designed to float inside the cranium on our everyday life, but not to spin, turn and collide inside its walls after being hit by a 100 Kg guy running full-speed into you. But tough football players don’t think about this, do they? Of course, they trust the athletic equipment. It does prevent skull fractures and limits the number of on-field deaths. But what happens frankly, is that players use helmets as a weapon. When they have a cushioned head covering and face masks, they don’t have to worry about splitting their noses in two or being left without any teeth whatsoever. In short, as the safety equipment gets better, the more aggressive becomes the human behavior. Thus, the violent nature of the activity is also strongly enhanced in… ice hockey, baseball and roller derby. But removing all these safety pads wouldn’t make the game as equally fun. And if playing it won’t be fun, imagine how boring would be watching it.

But I’m not talking only about sports here. We get the same exact situation when we sit behind a steering wheel. The more safety features you add on your car, the more reckless the people will get on the roads. If you’re strapped in your vehicle, with air bags all round you without the fear of hitting any concrete wall you don’t feel so vulnerable anymore. When you buy a car the salesman calls “deathproof” you immediately want to flip it.

Is there a way to describe this? Well, when you can reverse the effects of risky behavior like unprotected sex, aren’t people more engaged to get into such behavior? The fact is that our craving for safety has its costs. The other fact is we spend too much time being scared of such things like terrorist attacks and alien assaults, things that in the end are astronomically unlikely. We’re getting more and more hyped up about a world that is less and less dangerous. You know what’s really strange? A lot of the dangerous things we do these days like football aren’t a necessity, but are done on our own volition. If you think about it, risk is becoming a luxury good. Like a “deathproof” Mercedes.