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RE: perception and reality
Radsafers:
Boy I hate getting in these kinds of discussions, but my button's been pushed.
In USCEA (now NEI)public speaking training, I learned the three hit theory of peoples' perceptions of reality. Essentially it states that when told something three times, without any countering information, a person will come to believe what they have been told. It is a foundation tool of the marketing industry. It is why the anti-nuclear folk are so much more successful than we are in "selling" their product/beliefs. How do you prevent people from believing a falsehood? Simply counter the information with your own hit.
I suggest that you follow my example and send the reporter an email to counter his built-in belief that radiation is bad, bad, bad. It may take awhile (it took me one year to get one reporter to be neutral), but you can change them (to at least a neutral belief). I recommend that you email the reporter something akin to what Michael Stabin wrote which compares responses/real risk to the different emergencies. It has high emotional impact, which helps to break through the person's (false) belief. Please be tactful if you do email him - really review it to make sure it does not attack him personally, otherwise you can kiss your effort goodbye.
Countering false beliefs is a never ending battle. It is tough, takes commitment and you must have patience when your efforts do not work right away.
PS: It is nigh on impossible to correct the anti-nuclear bias "hit" that all the people reading the article got. You can only hope that this guy's future writings will counter this hit today.
Larry Grimm, Senior HP
UCLA EH&S/ Radiation Safety Division
* lgrimm@admin.ucla.edu Phone:310/206-0712 Fax: 310/206-9051
Cell: 310/863-5556 Pager:1-800-233-7231ext93569
* On Campus: 501 Westwood Plaza, 4th Floor, MS 951605
* Off Campus: UCLA Radiation Safety Div, 501 Westwood Plaza 4th
Fl, Box 951605, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1605
* If this email is not RSD business, the opinions are mine, not
UCLA's.
-----Original Message-----
From: Michael G. Stabin [mailto:michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 12:51 PM
To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: Re: perception and reality, my foot
> Dismissing people with concerns as stupid or inferior will only
> reenforce their fears.
> ...those who want to continue their elitist and condescending approach to
public concerns:
As noted by others, however, and I agree, the overreaction was not so much
by "the public", but by those who dispatched hundreds of emergency workers
to pick up a box of dirty tools off the roadway (thanks for the correction,
Rick). Perception is not reality by a long shot. In my post, there were only
words copied from web pages, but under those words was a reality. Two human
beings died in an inferno caused by a truck crash in Orlando and six other
human beings were crushed and mangled to death in Oklahoma by a truck
carrying peaches. These people were probably horribly frightened and
suffered pain before they died. Their families and friends had to attend a
funeral. Their beds at home and perhaps desks at work are now vacant. That's
reality. In the low level rad waste incident, absolutely no one was harmed,
but officials massively overreacted and scared the public. Then the
disingenuous politicos jumped on the situation to show how "inherently
dangerous" the whole nuclear industry is, and tried to tie it to Yucca
Mountain. Did these same critics suggest that we also shut down the
petroleum and peach industries? Noting this is not elitist or condescending,
it's just an attempt to state the point that the reactions were
inappropriate, and that things shouldn't happen that way in the future.
Mike
Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP
Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences
Vanderbilt University
1161 21st Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37232-2675
Phone (615) 343-0068
Fax (615) 322-3764
e-mail michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu
internet www.doseinfo-radar.com
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