What exactly happened on board the Costa Concordia? How did a luxury cruise go so wrong? Expertise in the psychology of risk perception, the explanation for why our perception of and response to risk sometimes seems pretty irrational. We’re too afraid of some things, and not afraid enough of others, which sometimes leads to new risks all by itself. David Ropeik is a Harvard instructor and author of “How Risky Is It, Really? Why Our Fears Don’t Always Match the Facts.”
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.