Why Your're Not So Great at Risk Assessment

[Mike B 625]

By A.C. Shilton (NYT)

As Americans across the country enter their fourth month of social distancing, but now with more options for things to do as states are in various phases of reopening, many of us are doing the math on exactly how cautious we still want to be.

There’s just one problem: Humans are not actually very good at assessing risk — especially their own risk, said Marie Helweg-Larsen, a professor of psychology at Dickinson College.

Complicating things, there are many factors at play in human psychology that can skew our risk perception....

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/smarter-living/why-youre-probably-not-so-great-at-risk-assessment.html?referringSource=articleShare

[Nathan Mitchell 1]

Personally, I find that the media skews my judgment - more often than not, to the negative side of things. I try to minimize my exposure to the news & media, because I know how much of an impact it has on my overall outlook of things. It's important to me that I keep an optimistic outlook (as much as possible), so that I have the mindset necessary to succeed in both my personal and professional endeavors.

[Mike B 625]

Thank is a great point. I am the same. I keep an eye on the overall assessment but do not dive to deep into what the media is saying.