Risk vs Uncertainty

If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. - Jayne Howard

In comparing the philisophical diferences between risk and uncertainty a level of ambiguity develops.  Traditionally, risk and uncetainty have been treated somewhat interchangeable.  By definition uncertainty states that the true outcome of events are "unknown".  Risk in contrast involves a measured degree of uncertainty mutiplied by the impact of the events occurance.  The cool thing about the philosophy here is that we intuitively understand it yet it's so hard to express with words.  We usually say things like, "it's my gut feeling" or "my ears are burning" that kind'a sound ridiculous but probably boil down to why the human species has been so successful.  From early childhood our brain begins to develop techniques for risk assessment.  If you've ever encountered the neighborhood bully along the path to school, a good bet (upside risk) is take a different path tomorrow.  In this way even our worst experiences will benefit us in the future.  Everything has its "upside".  Now if we could just limit the emotional impact of the lesson.

There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction. - John F. Kennedy