Running the Risk

which is worse, danger or the fear of danger?

When trying to understand the public perception of risk and how people respond, context is everything.

International Organization for Standardization defines risk vaguely as ‘the effect of uncertainty on objectives’,

Fear and dread can make us do things that counter-intuitively put us at even greater risk.

rstanding the underlying risk factors can be powerful information that should change our behaviour and help us avoid dying before our time.

Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality, published in 1662, was the first published work of epidemiology. It is filled with firsts: he was the first to report that more boys than girls are born, offered the first reasoned estimate of the population of London and invented the ‘life table’. Now a widespread tool used by actuaries, life tables show the probability that someone of a particular age will die before their next birthday. G

In the top ten risks by 2033, climate change is followed by other environmental issues, including natural disasters, extreme weather, biodiversity loss and the potential collapse of ecosystems worldwide. Cybercrime and the increasing threat from AI and other emerging technologies are also mentioned.

a ten-year horizon, the biggest risks are dominated by our potential failure to adapt to the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.

three billion workers, one in five reports they have been seriously injured at work at some point in their careers.

you are more likely to be killed by food poisoning or die from falling off a ladder than you are from flying.