A given threat is not just the threat of an individual living thing, but the entire set of external relations that thing is part of.
Yes, if you are a human the strength, sharp claws, and instincts of a bear make it inherently dangerous by sheer potential. But it is the way you encounter the bear, and the history of the bear itself that shapes the event. Is the bear hungry, surprised, or with its cubs? Has it had a history of negative encounters with humans, or a harrowing life experience? What is the nature of the environment, and the history of energy flows, that has shaped its instincts?
A human being's encounter with another human being in the middle of the forest has everything to do with what each of those individuals is projecting onto each other. Is each supposed to be there at that moment? What has each been through? What does each expect? What does each carry, or look like, or feel like? What is the personal and cultural history behind the development of these things? How do these individual impressions alter the tone and tenor of the encounter?
Your beef with someone else may very well be a beef with the whole industrial world.
