There's lots of data out there that shows that human beings are bad at assessing risks - particularly ones that are infrequent but potentially devastating. Economists and insurance companies can take a stab at it, but even they cannot fully understand the likelihood of catastrophe for extremely rare events.
That said, we do know that some things are risky. Like earthquakes. Yet despite the large number of earth quakes that happen every year and the clear pronouncements about the risk, few people actually buy earthquake insurance.
Will the ubiquitous digital camera on a cell-phone change this? Thanks to cell phones and digital cameras, we're over-run with imagery from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. For the first time in my life, I got to see what "Liquefaction" really is (check this out). Another video shows an entire harbor being washed away by the Tsunami.
End result? Perhaps people will get smarter about buying insurance for disasters. But you should never underestimate the stupidity of the human race.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment