&gt; at odds with the way that human beings actually think<p>I don&#x27;t doubt that, but that is no reason to suggest we let our base instincts dictate policy. The way that human beings tend to think about lots of things is problematic. We can do better.<p>Terrorism tries to use fear as a political tool, where democratic forms of influence would not succeed. It is used because it is very successful: we are so scared of a very small risk that our national politics revolves around it.<p>The president today said we &quot;will not be terrorised&quot;, the irony is astounding.