Dylan Pugliese
10 February 2014
Risk
In the wake of the monumental Stock Market Crash of 1929, tens of millions of poverty-stricken Americans, with images of desolated stockbrokers hurling themselves out of sky offices still fresh in their minds, helplessly tuned in to hear Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential inauguration speech. Realizing the gravity in the context of his address, in the middle of his speech FDR uttered the famous line “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. With an infinite number of problems going on in America at this trying time, Franklin Roosevelt choose to hone in to the idea that in this position of uncertainty, not being fearful of the future was the primary step in reviving our ailing nation. With this one sentence Franklin Roosevelt instilled in the minds of millions this notion that no matter the circumstances, an inability to move beyond “fear itself” is as crippling to the nation as the 1929 Stock Market Crash was to the American economy. The imminent presence of failure as an effect of taking risk has developed a society that tries to falsely quantify risk-itself, and discourages people away from gravitating towards experiences that could stimulate personal growth.
In order to understand what is truly a risk, what constitutes a risk-taker, and the relation of risk and safety; we must first look at the reason why these acts are taken. Dating back to the earliest times in recorded history, man has always strived to do the things necessary in order to promote a heightened sense of well-being. Whether it is a prehistoric caveman ravenously roaming the countryside in order to find his prey, or a person in modern society attending a weekly workout class, people come into this world and yearn for growth. This ideal of growth and prosperity is one that is instilled in the minds of children at a very early age. I can vividly remember my father urging me to “be the very best I could be today”, as he hugged me before I departed each day for Elementary School. What happens with the inception of these concrete ideals is that an understood desire for growth is encouraged. This certain quest for personal advancement is displayed when “we see inexperienced athletes, whose appetite for adventure far exceeds their skills and competence” put their lives at risk in order to obtain a type of “thrill” (Palmer 331). On the surface, the thought of “inexperienced athletes” engaging in such arduous physical activity such as climbing Mt. Everest, or canyonning down the fatal waters of Interlaken in order to merely seek an “adventure” seems absolutely unthinkable. However, this same type of action can be seen in every day life. It can be seen as you walk into your local gym and see people uncomfortably sweating whilst sprinting on a conveyor belt for extended periods of times. It can be seen when you walk on the a college campus and see students shoveling their brains with as much knowledge as possible in order to get the highest grade point average possible. In all of these situations, it is not the thrill that we are seeking. The real concern here is the fear of failure. Everyday people are faced with the fear of inadequacy. The fear of striking out, the fear of being the last kid picked in kickball, the fear of failing that first midterm. It is this undermining fear that causes one to do whatever they deem necessary in order to promote personal growth and tranquility.
According to some, taking action in order to promote spiritual or emotional advancement is not a valid enough reason to negate precautionary measures, and the dangerous presented by an assumed risky situation. Many people support the account made by prominent modern sociologist Anthony Giddens that we live in “a society increasingly preoccupied with the future which generates the notion of risk”(cargoproject.eu). Having a certain “preoccupation” with what might be promotes an overall safer environment. As regulations are set and safety measures are put into place the attempt to minimize the unknown misfortunes that the future may bring is made. While regulations and safety measures may seem to be redundant at times, this type of action can help drastically in a given situation. For instance, the absence of such regulation at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant caused catastrophic damage, damage that easily could’ve been avoided if safety measures were put into place. Due to the opportunity cost of not having these regulations in place, it is safe to say that a certain preoccupation with the future is necessary to prevent such events.
While in is fair to take caution in dealing with some situations, this same attitude does not need to be applied to experiences of risk in human life. With an overwhelming emphasis on safety, the belief that “it is best not to take a new risk unless its outcome can be understood” employs a certain sense of confinement within the web society deems to be “safe”(Furedi 9). In a world that has been built and rebuilt time and time again on the basis of innovation and discovery, this thought that a risk should be avoided “unless the outcome can be understood” places a ceiling on how high our seed can flourish. It is not societies duty to define what is safe and what is not safe. This obsession with an outcome that is not even certain thrusts individuals away from making the efforts necessary to culminate new experiences, and severely inhibits human development. At the core of every great invention in history there is a thought of uncertainty, of doubt. The prodigious Thomas Edison, known for being the inventor of the light bulb, once claimed, “If I find 10,000 ways something wont work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward”(goodreads.com). What Edison is demonstrating with this quote is that by actually doing instead of taking caution, regardless of what the outcome may be, forward progression will be made. It is the process of continual failure that led Thomas Edison to finally reach his breakthrough. Without failure there is nothing to overcome. Life would not be as exciting if we did not fail. Thomas Edison would not have learned the things he did, and would not be as renowned as he is today if he just walked into a lab one day, grabbed a couple items, and “poof” there’s the first light bulb. Today it is so easy to fall into what is deemed “safe”. It is so easy, beyond my belief, for a person to go to a job for 40 hours a week that they hate, and not quit because of a fear of what may happen. If we continue to live in a risk-advert society that places all of its emphasis on uncontrollable factors, we will not truly thrive.
In an effort understand the existence of fear; first we must analyze what risk really is, and how it plays a part in experience, in turn, growth. The dictionary defines risk as “a situation involving exposure to danger”. However, what one person considers being dangerous and risky could be completely different from what another person interprets this correlation. For instance, I’m sure that a Sherpa who had spent his whole life living on a given mountain would have a much different view of the “riskiness” of climbing that mountain than, say, an average person who is deathly afraid of heights. Because of this imbalance of judgment it is safe to say that risk can really not be universally quantified. With that being said the idea that safety, as form of risk-management, can be applied u to everyone is a fallacy. Rather, in modern society this idea of being safe, or taking the “safe way out” has become a viable option in opposition to taking risks that could lead to failure. The problem with this situation not only are people letting fear of failure keep them from stepping out of their comfort zones, but moreover that society has allowed and facilitated this to happen. This can be seen in the media when people are advised to avoid an “occasional glass of wine” due to it being potentially “detrimental to [ones] health”(Furedi 5). Whether its just an “occasional glass of wine” or a life-endangering venture, risk cannot be defined by anyone but oneself. In an instance where risk is defined by an outside presence, boundaries are created around what a person can or can’t experience, and authentic personal experience does not occur.
What constitutes a positive human experience can be defined in many different ways. For instance, Bradley Garret, a geographer from the University of London described his decent into the rotten underworld beneath Paris as an experience that garnered “new points of reference, memories of challenges met, [and] perceptions reconfigured…”(Garret 277). For Bradley Garret, taking risk wasn’t about cascading up the side of a treacherous cliff, or participating in some type of extreme sport, merely it involved gaining “new points of reference”, and going to a place he had never been before. The key concept in this positive experience for Garret was that he allowed himself to be vulnerable. The willingness to allowed oneself to become vulnerable is not easily practiced as it forces a person to face fear and more importantly, face failure. Garret’s practice of complete immersion into an unfamiliar place or experience without fear of what may come provides an exceptional blueprint to the type of action necessary in order to facilitate further innovation and discovery in our society.
So often it is easy to fall in to the pressures of society, and stick to the status quo. Sometimes, however, as the late Will Rogers once mentioned, “you’ve got to go out on a limb because that’s where the fruit is”(brainyquote.com). If we continually succumb to the fears that are placed on us as members of society, there will be no fruit to be had.
Works Cited
Andersson, Kjell. “Precaution and Risk Reduction – Politics and Expertise. Some Reflections on the Precautionary Principle.” CARGO Comparison of Approaches to Risk Governance (2008): 1-19. Www.cargoproject.eu. European Comission. Web.
BrainyQuote. Xplore, 01 Jan. 2001. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Furedi, Frank. Culture of Fear. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2006. Print.
Garret, Bradley L. “Cracking the Paris Carrieres: Corporal Terror and Illicit Encounter Under the City of Light.” ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies 10.2 (2011): 269-277. Print.
Lupton, Deborah. Risk. London: Routledge, 1999. Print.
Palmer, Catherine. ‘Shit Happens’: The Selling of Risk in Extreme Sport.Austrailia. The Australian Journal of Anthropology,2002. Print.
“Thomas A. Edison Quotes.” Thomas A. Edison Quotes (Author of Diary and Sundry Observations of Thomas Alva Edison). Goodreads Inc., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.
Living Dangerously 