Risk is “inherently subjective” and “does not exist ‘out there,’ independent of our minds and cultures” – Slovic

What is “risk”?

Is it the rational “objective function of probability”, or an inherently subjective, human construct?

Slovic (Risk Game, 2011, J Cont Water Research) forwards that:

“risk is inherently subjective … In this view, risk does not exist “out there,” independent of our minds and cultures, waiting to be measured“

— and —

“Instead, human beings have invented the concept risk to help them understand and cope with the dangers and uncertainties of life”

This view doesn’t discount that dangers are real, but ‘objective’ or ‘real risks’ are both theoretical and subjective and assumption-laden, influenced by judgement.

(** Other, later work clarifies that ‘risk’ can mean one or all of these things. E.g. we don’t need a single, unified definition, and risk can meet different needs providing you’re clear with your use case/definition. Aven suggested that risk is an objective, subjective and inter-subjective concept. Also, others say ‘real risk’ isn’t meant to mean literal, but means statistical risk)

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