You don't hear about the people who stayed at their "secure" job as opposed to joining a more risky venture, only to lose their job the next month.
> how cautious or not to be at any point in time is actually a very complex judgement.
I think people are taking what was said a bit too far. You can do very safe mountain climbs and see some awesome views, and safely swim rivers near shore, You can reasonably live without taking absurd risks.
It is, but it isn't as drastic effect as say the survival bias from war or something. The logic being that under today's circumstances, many people live to grow old without the serious threat of from large scale war, famine and disease. In other words, there is survivor bias, but it is significantly diluted by the fact that almost everybody survives. For survivor bias to be significant, you have to have a lot of people not survive.
You might hear from old people wishing they'd done more, you don't hear from young people who died while climbing mountains, swimming rivers, or ...er ... eating ice cream.
Which is to say: how cautious or not to be at any point in time is actually a very complex judgement. Seizing the day and living in the moment are important, but so is planning ahead, thinking about the future, practicing restraint at the right times and knowing when not to eat ice cream.