Acceptable Risk

It's strange how we determine how risky some activities are and whether we are prepared to take that risk. I was talking to a friend and he was saying there were two things he never wanted to do, fly in a Cessna airplane and swim in the sea since there are sharks there. I pointed out that I didn't think either of these activities were that risky. I said I would take those chances. I told him that driving his car was a much more dangerous activity yet he was willing to take that risk everyday. He said that driving his car was forced upon him, which I didn't fully agree with. He could always take a bus or a train.

Driving is definitely one of the most dangerous activities and risk that we partake in each day, yet the majority of people are only too happy to take that risk. Some people then see activities such as flying in an airplane as dangerous. The percentage of deaths from planes each year are far less than cars, but yet due to the perception of it, people deem it as risky. Deaths from poisonous and deadly animals are even less again. Yet people are afraid to go out into the bush in case they get biten by a poisonous snake or something.

Everyday activities that we take for granted probably pose huge risks that we just never think about. Using electrical applicances where there are 240 volts flowing through them can kill you instantly. Yet people use them without thinking twice. I guess it all comes down to how you rate an acitivity and how risky it is. And activities that tend to be more foreign are generally seen as more risky.