I think humans have a cognitive bias that makes them fear risks more if they perceive "ill will" behind it.
A natural disaster is scary and can kill a lot of people, but to most people it feels more impersonal.
When someone is targeting people directly (serial killers, murderers, terrorists) it feels scarier because there is an intention to harm.
This bias is stronger that probability. Even if someone lived near a volcano that had a 5% chance of killing you every year, I bet that same person would be more scared of a terror attack that had .01% chance of killing you per year.
This is reflected in our legal institutions. If you kill a person accidentally, even through neglect, that is involuntary manslaughter, but if you kill deliberately, that is murder.
A natural disaster is scary and can kill a lot of people, but to most people it feels more impersonal.
When someone is targeting people directly (serial killers, murderers, terrorists) it feels scarier because there is an intention to harm.
This bias is stronger that probability. Even if someone lived near a volcano that had a 5% chance of killing you every year, I bet that same person would be more scared of a terror attack that had .01% chance of killing you per year.
This is reflected in our legal institutions. If you kill a person accidentally, even through neglect, that is involuntary manslaughter, but if you kill deliberately, that is murder.