Christopher S. Penn's Awaken Your Superhero - Latest Comments in Why do we take unnecessary risks?

Re: Why do we take unnecessary risks?

Whitney — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:21:18 -0000

Predictably Irrational is a great book that looks at some of this- one of the best books around.
The problem is we always feel it will happen to someone else, it can't be that bad....we get ourselves boxed into a corner like a gambler who is down at Vegas, but is absolutely sure he can "win all that back" and more, only to sink deeper and deeper into a hole.

Unless, or course, you have had that experience before, or someone very close to you has. Then, you "know" the danger and the risk becomes more emotionally real to you.

For people who are faithful, they often think their faith will protect them. That God will save them. It is impossible for them to factor in that storms and damage and pain and death may have a randomness factor, and you are at risk , too. For example, It may not be "my time" to go, but if it's the pilot's time, and I am on that plane, I get caught up in the devastation, all the same.

The bottom line is that avoiding trouble requires adequate risk assessment, and a tolerance of risk. If things get bad, and I could be seriously hurt or die, is that okay with me? If the answer is yes, stay put. If the answer is no, evacuate.

But rarely do we act logically; rarely do we put things in that black and white viewpoint- What's the worst thing that could happen if I evacuate? What's the worst thing that could happen if I stay? Balance those two , and you get a reasonable course of action.

Re: Why do we take unnecessary risks?

Susan Murphy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 09:48:49 -0000

It's that sense that so many people have that they are invincible, the "it can't happen to me", that boggles my mind. I

Yesterday, my husband and I were discussing the "rationale" behind staying. He made an excellent point - people are so attached to their belongings that they are afraid to leave and come back to nothing. I agree, the prospect of leaving my home and coming back to a pile of rubble is heart-wrenching - but not so heart wrenching that I'd be willing to put my family's lives at risk to try and "protect" my stuff. It's just stuff, things, belongings. Stuff can be replaced. Lives cannot.

If people were less attached to their material lives, perhaps they would think twice before throwing their 6 month old baby in the path of a hurricane.

Re: Why do we take unnecessary risks?

Bryan Person, LiveWorld.com — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:56:30 -0000

Two things that leave me scratching my head during hurricanes
1) Locals refusing to evacuate when local authorities telling them that staying means "certain death."
2) Why news/weathercasters insist on standing *outside* in certain-death and dangerous conditions, just to tell us that it's dangerous and not to go outside.