Talk:Risk/Archives/2012

Positive?

"the value of those results may be positive or negative." Risk is not a positive thing, it is negative. Risk is a dangerous chance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.66.63.197 (talk) 04:11, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Aye but a risk is not necessarily a bad thing. People often undertake risky activity for recreational purposes. Racooon (talk) 10:45, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Risks being necessarily negative is rapidly becoming obsolete, at least for the DoD and project management. The identification of probability and impact or opportunities. Impact being Return/Investment, the adoption of SORAM, by DAU, etc..GESICC (talk) 06:52, 12 January 2011 (UTC)GESICC

'Risk' in the financial sense is often taken to be the measure of uncertainty of outcome.

For instance, making a profit of 5% is taken as more risky than an equal chance of 4% or 6%, even if the average profit is still the same. A key point here is that although the profit is variable, in this simplistic case there is no 'danger' of a bad outcome, just variable amounts of good. Many people would prefer 5% for certain than 4 to 6% and in some cases would be prepared to accept slightly less profit for more certainty, valuing 4.9% for certain profit above an average of 5%. There are situations where it is sensible and rational to prefer more risk, and some people enjoy risk, which is why we have gambling. Large lotteries give a lower rate of return than (for instance) roulette, you lose your money more quickly with a lottery. But with some lotteries one may win tens of millions, not usually possible in other gambling, so many millions of people are observed to prefer some extra risk in their lives and are even prepared to pay money for it. DominicConnor (talk) 15:15, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

You can begin to understand that Risk is positive by attempting to live without taking any risks. After a few boring days staying in bed hiding away from any electrical items that might cause a fire, there's no doubt you'll be out crossing roads, expressing opinions, telling someone that you love her, and all the other risks people take every day that make life worth living. Riversider (talk) 11:36, 8 February 2012 (UTC)