WORLD SOCIAL SUMMIT 2008
'WSS: Giuseppe Roma, Technical and scientific progress: the reason for greater fear'

"Fear of fears?": this is the question of the general director of Censis, Giuseppe Roma, during the presentation of the Censis' report on world fears at the World Social Summit held in Rome until tomorrow. "Fear is not a compact feeling" said Roma, showing the classification of fears as it stood out from the 5,000 interviews carried out in 10 metropolises, among which the capital. "The attitude of people cannot be described in one term only" we can rather talk about "spread anxieties". From the research, it stands out that only 10% of the people interviewed are actually subject to actual fear. The interesting datum is that "90% of the people interviewed admit to have a slight daily anxiety". But when feelings are analyzed, Roma reminds that "42% talking about very much felt anxieties, almost anguishes". How do we explain the fact that the city of Rome gains the first spot with regards to pessimism widespread among citizens? To explain this phenomenon, Roma starts from opposite cases: "Mumbai and Beijing", characterized by a deep optimism? The inhabitants of these cities "say that their feeling is of enthusiasm, optimism, hope" the reason is "the world is constantly moving". On the contrary, the Capital "kept a type of scheme". With an attitude that is also different from other European cities. "London does not suffer the agony of the immigrant" says Roma. "The feeling of Londoners is of optimism. London is a city that bets on diversities".

"Going from a compact feeling to the many fears put together, the first fear is of ancestral type and concerns our own self" says Roma reminding among the causes of fear, that of "losing intellectual faculties. This is the case of London, Paris and Rome". Among this type of fear, there is the fear of not being able to "keep our own psyche-body unaltered".

And then there is the fear of "technical and scientific progress that it is an ethic reason for many people". Among the causes, there is an interesting datum: the "congested traffic represents the fear of 60% of the people interviewed".

With regards to the classification of people subject to fears, Roma reminds that "the education level does not discriminate, but the cities, social classes and genre (women more than men) discriminate".

Among the reasons for fear, there is also globalization, "less solidarity among people". But there are cases in which "globalization is reason for optimism": these are cities that see an opportunity in globalization, such as Tokyo, reminds Giuseppe Roma.

Among demotivating elements, Roma recalls "terrorism", and also politics, that "must directly communicate to the citizen, without intermediaries and the fact to "appear on television and convince people with an emotional speech, inevitably increases threats".

And television in this context has a "regulatory role of the event" creating "communication and information" rules. According to Roma, "media produce the fact that even non imminent threats are understood as actual threats and objectively produce an amplifying effect".

How does "fearful" population react? "Which is the spontaneous reaction to urban vulnerability that generates insecurity?". Roma observes: "people react, they don't stay still. Some face fears with faith, while others intensify their "skill to relate to others, themselves, ethics and nature".