Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathgod
Once again, warning people about real dangers is not the same thing as fear mongering.
Otherwise, telling people to wear seatbelts in their cars is fear mongering. Telling people to lock their doors at night is fear mongering. Telling your daughter not to date a sex offender is fear mongering.
See how ridiculous it sounds?
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If your intent is to make people wear seatbelts, lock their doors, or not date a sex offender out of fear vs. rational thought and logic, it’s the exact same thing.
Presenting the statistics on seatbelt safety and the impact it has on accidents and vehicular deaths isn’t fearmongering. Stating that if you don’t put on your seatbelt you’re probably going to die and you should fear driving in your car without a seatbelt is literally fear mongering.
In both cases, the danger of driving without a seatbelt is very valid, and very real. The approach is what establishes whether it’s fear mongering or not, not the validity of the fear. You can absolutely fear monger people into taking action on real dangers, it just has (usually unintended) negative psychological impacts.