Memetic Engineering and Public Acceptance _website_.PDF

It is well-recognized that public opposition to nuclear power is largely based upon an irrational response to real or imagined risks. Efforts to alleviate this through education and communication have met with some success, but inevitably encounter a barrier that some have called the “Dread Syndrome”: a deep and almost visceral fear initiating an immediate negative response, independent of external stimuli. The response is subconscious, and therefore unlike public concern for many other technologies. A successful approach to dealing with this response will likewise be unlike that used with many other technologies.