How Risky Is It, Really?: Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts [Hardcover]

David Ropeik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 8, 2010

"Clear, balanced, and lively." -- Steven Pinker, bestselling author of How the Mind Works

ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE "RIGHT" RISKS?

Do you worry more about radiation from nuclear power or from the sun?

Are you more afraid of getting cancer than heart disease?

Are you safer talking on your cell phone or using a hands-free device when you drive?

Do you think global warming is a serious threat to your health?

GET THE FACTS BEHIND YOUR FEARS—AND DISCOVER . . . HOW RISKY IS IT, REALLY?

International risk expert David Ropeik takes an in-depth look at our perceptions of risk and explains the hidden factors that make us unnecessarily afraid of relatively small threats and not afraid enough of some really big ones. This read is a comprehensive, accessible, and entertaining mixture of what's been discovered about how and why we fear—too much or too little. It brings into focus the danger of The Perception Gap: when our fears don’t match the facts, and we make choices that create additional risks.

This book will not decide for you what is really risky and what isn't. That's up to you. HOW RISKY IS IT, REALLY? will tell you how you make those decisions. Understanding how we perceive risk is the first step toward making wiser and healthier choices for ourselves as individuals and for society as a whole.

TEST YOUR OWN "RISK RESPONSE" IN DOZENS OF SELF-QUIZZES!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Ropeik is an international consultant and widely sought-after public speaker on risk perception and risk communication. Ropeik is an instructor at the Harvard University Extension School's Environmental Management Program and taught risk perception and risk communication at Harvard School of Public Heath (2000-2006). He was a commentator on risk for NPR Morning Edition program and has been a guest host for NPR's “The Connection.” He has written articles about risk perception for The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, LA Times, and The Boston Globe, and Nova among others.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (February 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071629696
• ISBN-13: 978-0071629690
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hi. I am an Instructor at Harvard University and a consultant, teacher, and speaker on risk perception, risk communication, and risk management. I was Instructor of risk communication at the Harvard School of Public Health, and was co-director of the school's professional education course 'The Risk Communication Challenge'.
I co-authored "RISK, A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You", published by Houghton Mifflin in 2002.
I am creator and director of the program "Improving Media Coverage of Risk", a training program for journalists.
I was a television reporter for WCVB-TV in Boston from 1978 - 2000, where I specialized in reporting on environment and science issues. I was lucky enough to twice win the DuPont-Columbia Award, one of the highest honors in broadcast journalism, and seven regional EMMY awards. I was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT 1994-95, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists from 1991-2000. I've taught journalism at Boston University, Tufts University, and MIT.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Your gut isn't always right, how to make safer choices January 10, 2011

By Jaylia3 TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

React fast, think later. According to the scientific research Ropeik cites in this useful book, human brains are designed to respond quickly to perceived danger, before there's time to rationally consider what the real risks of the situation are. What served us well in the age of the saber tooth tiger is not as useful for making informed decisions in the modern world, plus all those fight, flight or freeze chemicals streaming through our nervous system create their own health risk. The heart of this book for me is the second and third chapters which describe the natural biases, mental shortcuts and risk factors that can lead to making counterproductive--even deadly--choices in an effort to avoid danger, choices like driving after 9/11 because it felt safer than flying though it instead caused a spike in highway fatalities.

I read much of this same material in Daniel Gardner's book The Science of Fear. The difference between the two books is that How Risky is It, Really is designed to be a personal guide for evaluating decisions. For that it is very effective, but by its later chapters the material has gotten repetitive. The Science of Fear is not as easily used as a daily guide but its scope is broader and deeper and it concerns itself more with implications for the future and for society as a whole.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lively analysis of the misperception of risks June 4, 2011

By David J. Aldous

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book focuses on the psychology of how we perceive risk, complementing an earlier book Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You giving hard data on what is actually risky. The author, who lectures on risk communication, knows how to hold an audience's attention, and succeeds admirably in conveying serious content in popular style and language. To me, the central feature is a list of 13 factors which can make a risk seem more threatening or less threatening than it really is (Trust; Risk vs benefit; Control; Choice; Natural vs human-made; Pain and suffering; Uncertainty; Catastrophic vs chronic; Can it happen to me? New vs familiar? Risks to children; Personification; Fairness). Also noteworthy is his discussion of the role of the media in making the world seem scarier than it really is -- a well-informed discussion, because the author worked as a TV reporter for 20+ years.

The book points out how the "perception gap" can be harmful: individuals continue risky behavior unaware, while over-worrying about the
wrong things; public policy is shaped by self-interested or ideological pressure groups, or by public opinion driven by scaremongering media.
There are suggestions for you as an individual on how to identify and counteract these psychological risk factors. The book concludes with a
discussion of the public policy aspect of risk communication. It is hopeless to try to impose some purely rational cost-benefit analysis on
the public, rather one should start by taking these predictable psychological factors into account.

All these points are discussed via entertaining real examples. So the book deserves 5 stars for significant interesting content not readily
found elsewhere. My only quibble is that the people who will read this book are probably those predisposed to rational analysis, not the ones who might benefit most.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Handbook for Living Intelligently March 12, 2010

By A. Ripley

Format:Hardcover

To thrive in the modern world, what we need most often is a filter--a way to sort through the noise around us and figure out (quickly) what matters. What is worth worrying about? Kidnapping or cancer? Floods or fire? Pesticides or growth hormones? Mercury in seafood or terrorism on trains?

David Ropeik's new book draws on psychology, neuroscience and very specific, real-world examples to help us build good, strong filters. It is easy to read, thorough and engaging. HOW RISKY IS IT, REALLY? should be on the desk of anyone who invests money, raises children, watches TV news--or aspires to find peace and sanity in a confusing world.