It doesnt, true, but it makes you aware that you're far more likely to get hit by lightning than eaten by a shark, and that even if you do get bitten they're not going to swallow you or chew you up, as we don't taste good to them. If this has been known at the time of Jaws' release, I guess it might not have made the movie so scary but it would also have saved too many hotheads from going off half-cocked on shark hunts, thinking they were Richard Dreyfuss.
Of course sharks are dangerous, but only a) if upset by swimmers or b) they mistake you for a seal or something or c) there's blood in the water. I'm not saying you can just jump in among a shoal (school? Shoal?) of Great Whites or Tiger Sharks and say "how's it goin' shark dudes?" but you also would not need to beat a hasty retreat in terror, leaving a brown stain in the water behind you, the moment you saw a triangular fin. It was made too much of that "sharks are killers" and also the sizes were greatly exaggerated. But worst of all, the scene when Quint gets eaten - that would never, ever happen. That's more your T-Rex really. If they swum. And still existed.
Mind you, sharks will never get me. I'll drown first, as I can't swim. Hah! In your FACES, sharks!
