Risk Quiz

(T/F) Although a human life has no precise monetary value, even a precautionary analysis would consider it irrational to spend enormous sums of money preventing a statistical death.

True

(T/F) Someone who subscribes to the precautionary principle believes that safety and the avoidance of risk often outweigh the potential benefits that taking a risk may offer.

True

(T/F) Subjective risk depends upon what one perceives about a technology or situation.

True

(T/F) The principle of maximizing expected value holds that we must always be willing to accept a risk if the benefits of doing so are large enough.

True

Which of the following are common objections made against risk-benefit analysis? - Risk-Benefit analysis favor caution over innovation and hinders the implementation of new technologies. - It seems morally problematic to assign monetary value to the occurrence of a preventable death. - The numbers used in such quantitative analysis can be very uncertain. - Risk-Benefit analysis is often performed by individuals who are biased and stand to gain from certain results.

- It seems morally problematic to assign monetary value to the occurrence of a preventable death. - The numbers used in such quantitative analysis can be very uncertain.

The precautionary principle is not reducible to simply being "better safe than sorry." What else does this principle require? - That all risks, no matter how minor, generate obligations to act. - Some extremely risky actions can never be justified, even by incredibly large benefits. - That only subjective risks matter. - That some risks (e.g., those that generate very serious harms) are always unacceptable and should never be undertaken.

- Some extremely risky actions can never be justified, even by incredibly large benefits. - That some risk (e.g., those that generate very serious harms) are always unacceptable and should never be undertaken.

Which of the following are important distinctions for risk analysis? - Personal and Impersonal Risk - Subjective and Objective Risk - Risk-Benefit and Precautionary Principles -Future and Past Risk

- Subjective and Objective Risk - Risk-Benefit and Precautionary Principles

Why might the opinions of non-experts, who are unable to understand the technical details of an activity, still matter? - Because the non-expert's misunderstanding could be productive and motivate more scientific research. - Because the objective risk is the sum total of all subjective assessments of risk from experts and non-experts alike. - They shouldn't. Non-experts should never be included in discussions about technological projects because they are overly influenced by emotions. - Because the non-expert's inability to understand reflects poorly on the nation's educational system.

Because the non-expert's misunderstanding could be productive and motivate more scientific research.

(T/F) A fundamental problem with the risk-benefit analysis is that the principle of maximizing expected value is based solely on human intuitions.

False

(T/F) Instead of calculating probabilities, engineers employing the precautionary principle need only establish whether a sufficiently bad out will definitely occur unless some precautionary measure is taken.

False

(T/F) That the subjective and objective risks of an activity sometimes differ demonstrates that subjective risks are irrational or irrelevant.

False

(T/F) The objective risk that arises from the use of technological artifacts does not change over time.

False

(T/F) The precautionary principle is the dominant way of approaching risk in the United States

False

The Risk-Benefit Principle and the Precautionary Principle are similar in that... - Both principles are no longer used in common practice, and have been replaced with new approaches. - Both principles state that any risk, no matter how severe, can be outweighed by a large enough benefit. - Both principles explicitly state that the value of human life cannot be quantified. - None of these.

None of these

Which of the following generated widespread concern about the risk of technology in the 1970s and 80s? - The Dawn of the Internet - Commercial Air Travel - Climate Change - Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power

The likeliness that a negative event will actually occur is called _____ risk.

Objective

When analyzing risk using the basic notion that it is better to be safe than sorry, engineers are employing the _______.

Precautionary Principle

"The exact risk that a new pesticide X will have on people of the environment is uncertain. Rather than quantify the known risks, we are better off to not allow it to enter the market until the risks are more fully understood." This statement best illustrates... - Subjective Risk - Objective Risk - The Risk-Benefit Principle - The Precautionary Principle

The Precautionary Principle

Which of these is NOT a common criticism of the Risk-Benefit Principle? - The Risk-Benefit Principle attempts to assign values to things that cannot be assessed in monetary terms. - The Risk-Benefit Principle prevents progress because the calculations involved make it impossible to introduce novel designs. - The numbers used in a risk-benefit analysis are very often uncertain. - The Risk-Benefit Principle does not adequately address reasonable intuitions about risk aversion.

The Risk-Benefit Principle prevents progress because the calculation involved make it impossible to introduce novel designs.

The lottery experiment conducted by the economist Maurice Allais indicates that... - Human beings always choose the option with the most potential benefit. - The precautionary principle is incompatible with risk analysis. - The risk-benefit and precautionary principles often come to the same conclusion about a certain risk. - The principle of maximizing expected value sometimes calls for individuals to make counterintuitive choices.

The principles of maximizing expected value sometimes calls for individuals to make counterintuitive choices.