Quote:
Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch
People overvalue risks with human causes and undervalue those that seem randomized or have no attribution. Ask 10,000 people whether they oppose irradiating foods or eating genetically modified produce that is pathogen-resistant, and they will tut-tut about the "unknown risks" of runaway mutations being unleashed on the ecosystem. Ask them how those "unknown risks" compare to the 76 million cases of food-borne illnesses in the U.S. last year, or the 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths, and they will frown and turn back to their clipboards.
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Or to put it differently (and steal from Nassim Taleb, citing others), they will be willing to pay more for insurance that protects their home from damage due to a specific threat (fire, flood, hurricane, terrorism, or whatever) than for a generalized policy that covers loss for any reason (including those specific threats).
