For instance, I read today about yet another chemical train wreck, it seems like shooting stories come in waves as well. Another example are celebrity deaths. Is this an actual phenomenon, or is it just heightened awareness?
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Part of it is the Baader-Meinhof phenomena, the idea that once you notice something you seem to keep seeing it again, or get the impression that it’s a very common thing when it actually isn’t.
The other part is just the way media works. The reality is that train accidents and mass shootings happen constantly, literally almost every day or multiple times per day. But the media might not report on them, so you don’t notice them, and then suddenly they do report on them and suddenly you’re thinking, hey, this is a new problem!
Train wrecks for example, we average over 3 train derailments every day in the US, they just didn’t make the news. For various reasons they are suddenly newsworthy and you’re thinking we suddenly have a problem. Truth is, we’ve had a problem for a long long time.
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