Risk: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Kindle Edition]
Author: Baruch Fischhoff | Language: English | ISBN: B005YMCC78 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Risk: A Very Short Introduction
Download books file now Risk: A Very Short Introduction from with Mediafire Link Download Link We find risks everywhere--from genetically modified crops, medical malpractice, and stem-cell therapy to intimacy, online predators, identity theft, inflation, and robbery. They arise from our own acts and they are imposed on us. In this Very Short Introduction, Baruch Fischhoff and John Kadvany draw on the sciences and humanities to explore and explain the many kinds of risk. Using simple conceptual frameworks from decision theory and behavioural research, they examine the
science and practice of creating measures of risk, showing how scientists address risks by combining historical records, scientific theories, probability, and expert judgment.Risk: A Very Short Introduction describes what has been learned by cognitive scientists about how people deal with risks, applying
these lessons to diverse examples, and demonstrating how understanding risk can aid choices in everyday life and public policies for health, safety, environment, finance, and many other topics.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Direct download links available for Risk: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Kindle Edition]
Download books file now Risk: A Very Short Introduction from with Mediafire Link Download Link We find risks everywhere--from genetically modified crops, medical malpractice, and stem-cell therapy to intimacy, online predators, identity theft, inflation, and robbery. They arise from our own acts and they are imposed on us. In this Very Short Introduction, Baruch Fischhoff and John Kadvany draw on the sciences and humanities to explore and explain the many kinds of risk. Using simple conceptual frameworks from decision theory and behavioural research, they examine the
science and practice of creating measures of risk, showing how scientists address risks by combining historical records, scientific theories, probability, and expert judgment.Risk: A Very Short Introduction describes what has been learned by cognitive scientists about how people deal with risks, applying
these lessons to diverse examples, and demonstrating how understanding risk can aid choices in everyday life and public policies for health, safety, environment, finance, and many other topics.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable. Direct download links available for Risk: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) [Kindle Edition]
- File Size: 862 KB
- Print Length: 144 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford; 1st edition (May 26, 2011)
- Series: Very Short Introductions
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B005YMCC78
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,471 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Business & Money > Industries > Insurance > Risk Management
- #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Medical eBooks > Administration & Policy > Health Risk Assessment
- #3 in Books > Business & Money > Industries & Professions > Insurance > Risk Management
Risk is an inevitable fact of human life. Dealing with risk is an integral part of our psychological makeup, and for the most of recorded history there have been attempts to minimize the risk as much as possible. It could be argued that many of the social, cultural, religious, and political institutions that we know today have evolved as an attempt to find some kind of stability and security in this risky world. "Risk - A very short Introduction" is a thoughtful, modern, and up-to-date account of risk, what we mean by it and how we deal with it.
One of the main aims of this short book is to force us to rethink the way we perceive and deal with risk. Our innate risk-assessment abilities are fairly good - up to a point. We are not very good at assessing risks associated with events that are vastly outside of the scope of our experiences, and especially those that are at odds with most of the historical human experiences. Thus for instance we are not very good at handling infinitesimally small or enormously large quantities, oftentimes overestimating or underestimating corresponding risks.
The book also drives home one important point: the concept of risk is inexorably value-laden. It is impossible to talk about risks in absolute terms without specifying the reference frame from within which we operate. There are certainly individual preferences that determine which risks are acceptable and which ones are outside the realm of consideration. There are certainly certain risks that are perceived more or less universally, but this too will be contingent on the cultural factors.
In addition to being hard to define and measure, risk can be very hard to communicate effectively. Over the years there have been many cases of unintentional misrepresentation of various risks.
This is not about data and specific advice regarding the risks that you as an individual face in everyday life (for which see How Risky Is It, Really?: Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts or The Norm Chronicles: Stories and Numbers About Danger). Instead it is a masterful overview of how many disciplines inside academia, and professions outside academia, think about Risk nowadays. Of books I have read (on any subject), it is one of the most successful at combining abstract high-level concepts with a set of substantial real-world examples. In style it is somewhat like a well-written concise textbook rather than a "popular science" book, so it requires some concentration rather than being easy bedtime reading. In the examples it presents data but does not seek to engage any details of statistical analysis.
Regarding content, I cannot do better than compress the author's own summary: thinking about risk in the context of decisions where risk matters; creating measures of risk; understanding probabilities of risks by combining historical records, science and expert judgement; how individuals move from understanding risks to making choices; risk perception and judgmental biases; risk communication; cultural aspects of risk.
Rather than plugging one author's view, the book emphasizes the many different aspects of risk and the complexity of real-world decision making. It strikes me as ideal for the reader who already has some familiarity with some aspect of the study of risk, but who is puzzled why other people view risk differently.
No comments:
Post a Comment