re: #22 austin_blue

Compared to workplace or industrial incidents, being killed by a terrorist attack is infinitesimally small.

Are we that interested in commercial ad ratings, or the common good?

I’m serious. Please discuss.

Actual stream-of-consciousness answers:

1) I have run a marathon or two. I’ve had friends run Boston. I’ve never had any friends from small industrial Texas towns. I’m not quite alone; the level of interpersonal connectivity will be far higher for the Boston Marathon.
2) There is a level of presumption that a sufficiently large, famous, prestigious event is safe, much more so than in everyday life (which we all know is fraught with occasional peril).
3) Obviously (?) intentional acts hit us harder. I’m sure more people died in traffic accidents than in Boston on Monday, but the latter will dominate tomorrow’s conversation.
4) Likewise, single major events hit us harder than many minor events. The Newtown-day gun deaths were probably not more than a standard deviation away from the average national gun deaths, but they controlled months of news coverage.
5) I’m out of numbers; I’m going to have a stiff drink and go to bed. This week blows. Let’s try the next one ASAP.