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Comment by freehunter | Hacker News Reader

To be honest, that's a huge fear of mine every time I'm waiting in a TSA line. What happens if they find a weapon and the person decides to use it right then and there? What happens if their equipment sets off a weapon? What happens if a domestic terrorist is trying to get back at the TSA directly?

Most of my flights are what Delta or United call "connector" flights, so there are only 40-50 people on the plane anyway. Not an attractive target, I would think. But standing in line at O'Hare, there could be 100+ people there. I'm not afraid of the TSA. I'm afraid of the massive crowd of people they create.

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From the article:

"The TSA is failing to defend us against the threat of terrorism. The only reason they've been able to get away with the scam for so long is that there isn't much of a threat of terrorism to defend against... Terrorists are much rarer than we think, and launching a terrorist plot is much more difficult than we think. I understand this conclusion is counterintuitive, and contrary to the fearmongering we hear every day from our political leaders. But it's what the data shows."

You're much more likely to get killed on the car ride to the airport than at the airport.

You're right. But there's something about standing in a high security area with these serious looking people wearing gloves and swabbing things and big x-ray scanners and leading people away in handcuffs and it puts all kinds of ideas in your head. It makes the threat of terrorism seem that much more real and prominent. And my mind says if it's going to happen, it's going to happen right here. Not up there.

I was just debating with my wife last weekend about how people are so terrified of guns when cars are so much more dangerous and random and senseless. But it's human nature to worry about danger when someone is actually threatening you with that danger. I worry more about accidents when someone is driving dangerously in front of me. I worry more about terrorism when someone is screaming at me to take my shoes off so they can check for a bomb.

You're right, security is a feeling as well as a reality and humans are not rational. I didn't mean to discount your feelings, only add some perspective.

I, for example, am scared of stranger violence. I know logically that if I were to be murdered/assaulted it would be much more likely to be someone I know who did it - but I still fear stranger violence more than what is rational.

Bruce Schneier (the author of this article) writes a lot about this:

https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/2008/01/the_psychol...

> ...there's something about standing in a high security area...

High security areas take security screening seriously.

When an intoxicated man in a blue shirt can successfully impersonate a member of your security staff and perform multiple private screenings of (attractive, female) travellers [0], it's clear that you don't take security seriously.

[0] http://www.loweringthebar.net/2014/07/drunk-gropes-two-posin...

You are far more likely to be killed by your children then by terrorists. You are more likely to die tripping over your couch in your living room then to be injured by terrorists.

Only if your couch makes it through a security screening.

Wouldn't put it past the TSA to fail to catch it.

Actually terrorism is much easier than we think - if nothing else a knife or a car will work - but terrorists are really, really, really rare.

Exactly. If you look at airports that face actual, active threats (israel) - you'll see they've minimized security lineups.

The end-goal of terrorism is the psychological impact, not killing a few people more or less. And there's just something about airplanes that creates a larger psychological impact when they're hit. Maybe it's the thought of being stuck in one, helpless and with no way out. Or maybe they symbolize progress and freedom, making traveling the world so easy. Whatever it is, that's what the terrorist attacking airplanes are going for.

And 911 was tremendously successful in that regard. Americans more or less willingly gave up many freedoms and accepted a police state.

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