"Constructive paranoia"

To avoid injury, be attentive to minor hazards that you encounter frequently.

“Consider: If you’re a New Guinean living in the forest, and if you adopt the bad habit of sleeping under dead trees whose odds of falling on you that particular night are only 1 in 1,000, you’ll be dead within a few years.” …

“Studies have compared Americans’ perceived ranking of dangers with the rankings of real dangers, measured either by actual accid…