Although only 23 people on average have been killed per year by terrorist attacks in the United States since 2001, American citizens and politicians consistently rank terrorism as a top security threat, leading to costly wars abroad and the repression of civil liberties at home. To what extent can education about terrorism alter perceptions of the threat? Much existing scholarship—and consistent polling over the past two decades—suggests that it cannot, but we disagree. Evidence gathered from an extensive series of experimental and observational surveys involving students in 31 terrorism and non-terrorism related courses at 12 universities—including massive open online courses (MOOC) and online surveys—reveals that the more individuals learn about terrorism, the smaller they perceive the threat to be to themselves and to the U.S. In the fight against terrorism and the fear it inspires, knowing really is half the battle.

中文翻译：

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知道是成功的一半：教育如何减少对恐怖主义的恐惧

尽管自 2001 年以来，美国每年平均只有 23 人死于恐怖袭击，但美国公民和政界人士始终将恐怖主义列为头号安全威胁，导致在国外发生代价高昂的战争，并在国内压制公民自由。关于恐怖主义的教育能在多大程度上改变人们对威胁的看法？许多现有的学术研究——以及过去二十年的一致民意调查——表明它不能，但我们不同意。从涉及 12 所大学 31 门恐怖主义和非恐怖主义相关课程的学生的一系列广泛的实验和观察调查中收集的证据——包括大规模开放在线课程 (MOOC) 和在线调查——表明，人们对恐怖主义了解得越多，他们的规模就越小。意识到威胁是对他们自己和对美国的威胁