We rarely know if our decisions will lead to failure or success. So why do we take risks? What causes us to readily embrace risky situations, while other times we back away? It’s often more arbitrary than we might want to admit. Whether it’s an everyday parenting situation or a death-defying rock climb, each decision we make involves some degree of risk. We are constantly evaluating those risks, and everyone calculates risk differently. How we measure uncertainty is complex and our perceptions of risk change based on the situation. We’ll be exploring that complexity here on the podcast as we examine how people gauge risk and look at ways to bring more rationality into our decision making.

Podcast Guests:

Jamie Davis Smith-Parent, attorney, and disability advocate

Seema Lakdawalla- Parent and virologist at the University of Michigan

Lenore Skenazy- Author and founder of the non-profit Let Grow

Jane Joseph- Neuroscientist at the Medical University of South Carolina

Alex Honnold- professional rock climber

Paul Slovic- Professor of psychology at the University of Oregon