very large and very small numbers. For many reasons, this inability to comprehend could prove to be very dangerous.Another mathematical concept we as humans tend to misunderstand is statistics, and how they should affect our risk-taking. In general, humans tend to avoid doing activities that have statistics showing a high risk for danger or failure, a concept that seems rather sound. However, this attitude is not always practiced. People also take into consideration whether or not the risk seems preventable or not. If an airline has a 1% rate of airplanes that go down, few people will fly that airline, because there is nothing they could do to prevent the plane from going down. However, in instances where people believe they can do something to prevent the undesired outcome, they are more likely to take the risk. For example, the odds of one’s partner having AIDS is rising at alarming rates, but people will still take that risk, assuming that using contraceptive devices will lower the risk of contracting AIDS. Psychological aspects factor into that decision as well. Many people will take that risk simply because it is something that they really want to do. One’s self-esteem and ego also play a part in many risk-taking situations. In instances where the risk is something preventable by the risk-taker, someone with high self-esteem would be likely to pursue that risk, having confidence that he could prevent the undesired outcome. Being a person of somewhat high self-esteem, I generally take these “preventable risks,” having parental and peer-pressure and approval as my main factors that weigh on my decision.The statement Cole gives in her chapter on scale, “We miss a great deal because we perceive only things on our own scale,” refers to the fact that although we look at some people as perfect and beautiful, and even at ourselves as quite attractive and healthy looking people, if we looked ...
