Podcasts Culture Point of Inquiry Clearing Up the Concept of Risk Assessment

Clearing Up the Concept of Risk Assessment

Published: Aug. 8, 2019, 10 a.m.

How well do you think you can assess risk? The evidence is clear that humans are innately poor at assessing risk in our personal lives, in part due to how our brains are wired, and that can make it challenging to make informed decisions about everything from vaccines and medicines to diet and children\u2019s safety. Errors in risk perception can be a problem when we worry more than the evidence says we need to, or less than the evidence says we should.

On this week\u2019s episode, Kavin Senapathy speaks with neuroscientist Alison Bernstein and biologist Iida Ruishalme, who teamed up to write a series of articles titled \u201cRisk In Perspective.\u201d The interview takes listeners through key concepts in risk and risk perception, including the difference between hazard and risk, and whether zero risk is ever really possible. How can putting risk into perspective inform regulatory actions? How does environmental justice tie into health and risk perception? How are marketers taking advantage of our inability to accurately assess risk? One thing is clear\u2014you won\u2019t want to risk missing out on this conversation.

ison's piece on\xa0how "Safety" is defined in a regulatory setting.

What was that great music you heard?

"Wahre" by Blue Dot Sessions / CC BY-NC 4.0

\u201cBuilding the Sled\u201d by Blue Dot Sessions / CC BY-NC 4.0

\u201cVittoro\u201d by Blue Dot Sessions / CC BY-NC 4.0