Re:Ask HN: What other low-probability high-impact events are...
by ErrantX on Tuesday June 15, 2010 @03:51PM
(#1433675)
This is the problem with the whole concept of risk: because your chances of suffering a car accident are actually relatively high when compared with all sorts of other risks.
On a scale of things unlikely enough that most people never have one a car accident is pretty near the bottom.
Think serious car accidents: unlikely enough that most people never have one, yet many thousands happen each year. The effects can be devastating to the people involved, but everyone keeps telling themselves that "it won't happen to me", and many people forego actions that would decrease or mitigate their risk, or even engage in actions that increas it substantially.