For my counter intuitive topic, I will focus on everyday actions. Coming from the idea that “the shower can be a killer,” everyday events and actions all have chances of injury, or even death. Many shower daily, and there is roughly  a 1 in 1,000 chance to slip and possibly be injured. Especially for the elderly, it is a common way to become dangerously injured. Another example, sleeping under trees when camping, is also more dangerous than thought. If camping is a common activity for a family, one could be dead in just a few years from a fallen tree, although the odds of this happening at one exact time is very small.

Most overlook the little dangers that are faced so often, and sometimes every day. The little percentages of danger stack up, and actually raise the risk over long periods of time. Daily showers mean that in a lifetime up to 75, 27,375 showers are taken. With a 1 in 1,000 chance, there’s already roughly 27 chances of an injury. Which may be then followed by 21,170 days of driving a car, risking a car accident. Stacked with another 26,000 days of a chance of a casual pedestrian accident, we should realize that everyday has its own dangers. Just because our everyday actions aren’t “crazy gunmen, terrorists, or plane crashes,” does not mean that safety and carefulness should not be overlooked.

1. “That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer”

Background: This New York Times article focuses on mainly the shower, and the chance of an injury from a very common action. Jared Diamond, age 75, believes everyone should be careful with the common actions just as much as the increasingly dangerous actions throughout life.

How I Intend to Use it: The article sprouted my topic’s idea, and will help me explain the topic with one of the most common actions done in daily life. Including rough numbers, and actual experiences, this article will help me prove that we should be more careful in everything we do.

2. “Drinking Soda Can Kill You”

Background: This health article, pertaining to soda, studies how deadly soda actually is. A study was performed on those who drank soft drinks which then linked possible health issues to those who drank more soft drinks more often then others.

How I Intend to Use it: Within the article, those who drank soft drinks on a daily basis had a much higher chance of health issues. The most dangerous health issues relating to vascular problems. This will help me prove that everyday actions can also affect our health, which an accident is not necessarily needed to increase our possibilities of injury or death.

3. “The Odds of Dying”

Background: This intriguing science article aims at on what the title states. The odds of dying. The article emphasizes a lot on natural disasters, and the chance to die from one, depending on where you live. Following this, the article then lists a lifetime odds chance to die in various ways.

How I Intend to Use it: The article can help me prove that even mother nature can have a say in what happens to us. Natural disasters can’t be helped, but being prepared can make a difference. Also, the article will help me prove that big disasters are not the only event that should be looked at as dangerous. They may cause bigger death counts at one time, but the list of injuries actually shows that there is a bigger chance to die of an accidental injury than a natural disaster.

4. “What Are the Odds?”

Background: This humorous article points out the odds of more events, however these events are the rare odds that can occur. Starting off stating that winning the lottery is a very small chance, the article then leads to a long list of odds that should be kept in perspective.

How I Intend to Use it: The list criticizes many rare events that most people are very worried about. This article will help me keep certain odds in perspective and point out that certain dangers are more rare than thought. This will then help me show that daily events are more dangerous than the few rare events that occur to only a handful of people but are detrimental.

5. A. Heinonen, Justin, and John E. Eck. Pedestrian Injures and Fatalities . No. 51. U.S. Department of Justice, 2007. eBook. <http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/files/ric/Publications/e090725108.pdf&gt;.

Background: The book Pedestrian Injuries and Fatalities collects facts and focuses on the pedestrians’ dangers with traffic. Many pedestrians are killed by traffic, or from accidents, such as being hit or being within a collision.

How I Intend to Use it: The book directly aims on pedestrian accidents in many situations. I will be able to use this to show that an accident can happen at any time, involving the two main ways of transportation, walking and driving. Many times an accident may not be our fault, but could still have a terrible aftermath.