As you may be aware, in May 2003 spiked held a conference at London's Royal Institution entitled PANIC ATTACK: INTERROGATING OUR OBSESSION WITH RISK. The conference brought together an international audience to assess the spread of risk aversion into ever-more spheres of life. I thought you might be interested in the proceedings and related material from the conference that have been published to date. - CHALLENGING THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE by Helene Guldberg How has society come to be governed by the maxim 'better safe than sorry'? http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DE2F.htm - WHO WANTS TO LIVE UNDER A SYSTEM OF ORGANISED PARANOIA? by Mick Hume The principle of safety first has become the major barrier to social advance. http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DDA5.htm - PANIC ATTACK by Helene Guldberg spiked's London conference debated the dangers of risk-aversion. http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DD9B.htm - SCIENCE, RISK AND THE PRICE OF PRECAUTION by Sandy Starr The scientific community imagines what society would have lost, had the 'precautionary principle' governed science in the past. http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DD7A.htm - RISKY LIVING by Professor Sir Colin Berry Why do we fear things that are as rare as getting struck by lightning? http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DDFE.htm - DOWN WITH THE 'SLIPPERY SLOPE' ARGUMENT by Mick Hume The prevalence of this nonsense speaks volumes about society's loss of faith in the human subject. http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DE27.htm - SCARING INTO SPACE by Helene Guldberg A new book by Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, gives humanity a 50/50 chance of survival. http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DDB4.htm - APOCALYPSE FROM NOW ON by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick SARS has become a blank screen on to which the world can project its fears. http://www.spiked-online.com/articles/00000006DD71.htm Sandy Starr spiked Ltd http://www.spiked-online.com Email: [log in to unmask] Tel: +44 (0)20 7269 9234 Fax: +44 (0)20 7269 9235