Risk Management

… Larry Laudan, a philosopher of science, has spent the last decade studying risk-management. He writes of how we live in a society so fear-driven that we suffer from what he calls risk-lock – a condition which, like gridlock, leaves us unable to do anything or go anywhere. He summarizes literature on risk management in nineteen principles. The first principle is the simplest: Everything is risky.

If you’re looking for absolute safety, you chose the wrong species. You can stay home in bed – but that may make you one of the half-million Americans who require emergency room treatment…