7 statistics that will change how you see the world

Not everyone knows that perhaps the most important moment in US history didn’t enjoy universal support.

When it came to the British rule, a third of Americans were for it, a third didn’t care either way and a third were decidedly against it. That was the group that brought on the Revolution that would establish the US as a sovereign state.

Even though the fear of flying remains one of the most popular human phobias, the statistics don’t lie. We have all heard that car crashes are much more likely than plane crashes.

But did you know that even if you are involved in a plane crash, chances are you’ll survive? 95% of the people involved in plane crashes do.

Since we’re on the topic of phobias, snakes are another popular one. And for good reason. They’re hard to spot and potentially lethal. However, they’re much less dangerous to us than they were to our ancestors who lived as hunters and gatherers.

Only 8,000 people are bitten by snakes in the US every year. Thanks to advances in antivenom, only about 5 of them die. That makes death from a snake bite less likely than being struck by lightning.

The United States used to waste enormous amounts of money on appliances that were consuming power while turned off. How much? Billions! It's called standby consumption and it has luckily been reduced by more than 90% in the last 30 years.

Having a well manicured lawn is a point of pride for most suburban families. On the face of it it doesn’t seem like it’s too much of a business. After all, on average, a household will only spend about $25 per month on maintaining their lawn. But it adds up fast. Altogether, Americans spend more than $40 billion on their lawns every year!

Rats and other pests caused many famines in the past. Luckily, we live in a world where technology and agriculture have advanced enough that it’s far less likely to die of hunger because of pests.

But even today, rats are still responsible for huge losses in this industry. It’s estimated that 10% of all the food grown in the world is either eaten or contaminated by rats.

Black widows have long cultivated a dangerous reputation. Even the bravest of us will back away and head in the opposite direction if we see one.

Statistics show though that, even if you get bitten by a black widow, you’re very likely to be completely fine. In fact, this spider might not even inject venom when they bite or they may only inject very little. Most people won’t even need to go to the hospital as their symptoms simply won’t be serious enough.