Social Amplification of Risk: A Way to Help With the Crisis

I have an idea for how you can be of help with a crisis we are facing. Please read the whole message below as there are resources at the end of it.

The source of massive reactions to physical risks like Coronavirus is well-researched. The two most important components to any amplified reaction are "dread" and "knowledge." Dread is the sense that something might threaten your life or cause you great harm. Knowledge is the level that you either understand the source of the risk or that you trust that the experts understand it. (Google "Social Amplification of Risk Framework" if you want to know more.)

When both high levels of dread and low levels of personal knowledge are in play, we see amplifications like those with Coronavirus. It's not a surprising response.

I have seen people doing their best to educate others. That's really important as only one of these elements needs to be addressed to prevent human over-reactions (amplification).

I have also seen others compare this crisis to real and well-known issues like deaths from starvation. This helps us to give us some perspective and maybe will also draw us to take some action to address that issue. I'd like to suggest two with which I have personal experience and of which I can speak very highly:

Child Fund International - https://www.childfund.org/sponsorkids/

Lutheran Partners in Global Ministry - https://lutheranpartners.org/donate/sponsor-a-student/

For a little bit more than the cost of a couple of boxes of medical face masks, you can literally save someone's life and give them opportunities that many of us take for granted.

I'm not in any way trying to demonize the fear we have about Coronavirus. As I stated above, this response is very normal and not surprising. But, let's also use this chance to look at other issues that cause loss of life and are preventable. We can each do something about those and it's really, really painless. Feel free to use the Comments section below to share suggestions for similar charities in your region that can also help.

If you are unsure of the magnitude of starvation and the need for your help, please visit: https://www.theworldcounts.com/…/how-many-people-die-from-h…

Thank you, everyone, for considering a way to address this crisis! We can do something about it at the same time we address our very real concerns about the Coronavirus too.