Rate this book

How To Live Dangerously: The Hazards Of Helmets, The Benefits Of Bacteria, And The Risks Of Living Too Safe (2009)

by Warwick Cairns(Favorite Author)

3.82 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1429987634 (ISBN13: 9781429987639)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

St. Martin's Griffin

review 1: I tend to think that the books I read are mostly esoteric. This one is an exception. This book should be read by most of my fellow Americans, especially the ones that are drunk with fear in our panic-driven society.Though the book is short, Warwick Cairns manages to write an impression-stamping book warning readers of the dangers of fear and trying to set things in perspective. He does a great job, especially whenever he discusses the relative dangers of any given activity, such as the notion that (statistically) your child would have to be left outside for 500,000 years before it was abducted by a stranger. He also does a well-balanced physiological overview of what happens when you feel fear, as well as the psychological workings that go on.Cairns's primary concern seems... more to be the correlation of two things: the rise in childhood obesity, diabetes, etc., and the decreased amount of activity brought on by excessive safety concerns. And when reading it, Cairns makes a really good, well-cited, logical case for his thesis that we all ought to just live a bit more dangerously.The problem, as Cairns himself acknowledges, is that it's one thing to understand and realize the reasonableness of such a thesis, and quite another to get the emotionally driven part of you to understand that. In other words, it's quite difficult to stop worrying that, say, your child will be one of only a handful of children abducted by a stranger, even when you acknowledge the sheer improbability.And it's with that in mind, I was torn between giving this book four stars and five stars. On the one hand, I think it's well-written, humorous in places, informative, and somewhat humbling. On the other, I have to wonder whether it will have any effect whatsoever. I tell myself, "No, my hypothetical future children will live more dangerously, they will reach the limits of their creativity and cope with danger, becoming healthy adults." And I say this now, many years removed from such a scenario. But what will I do when there actually is a little flesh bag that I have to try to not let die?After consideration, I realize that's not a problem with the book per se, but rather my own psychology. So I rest on the five star. I recommend it to any that have a creeping feeling that our society is a bit too paranoid.
review 2: This book was Cairns rant about how society is going down the tube because fear had overtaken our lives. While he makes some good points and uses many examples to back uo his claims, the book gets tiresome. Pretty much this is his soapbox and it is one long rant against everything causing fear from kidnapping to fast food to death. He discusses how everyone sues everyone else and how likely we are to die from something. It read too much like a rant. less

Download links for: How to Live Dangerously: The Hazards of Helmets, the Benefits of Bacteria, and the Risks of Living Too Safe

Advertising