What the meaning of risk taking?

Answer 1

Imagine you are standing near a very high cliff face with a drop of 1 000 feet over the end of the cliff.

A normal, sane, sensible, fair, and reasonable person would not go near the drop over the cliff.

A risk taker would jump off the end of the cliff without a parachute hoping that something, somewhere, somehow would protect them from getting hurt at the bottom of the cliff.

I think that's a slight exaggeration. Somebody who doesn't take risks would keep away from the edge of the cliff. Going near the edge would be risky because there is always the possibility that the cliff could collapse or that you could trip and fall off. A risk taker would go to the edge of the cliff knowing it was dangerous, because he/she has weighed the risks and benefits. For example there might be a very impressive view, or they might be trying to impress other people, either way they have decided that the risk of the cliff collapsing is very small, while the potential benefits are large.

However the risks involved with jumping off the cliff are much worse. You would be almost certain to hurt yourself, and for what benefit? Hence I would say that risk-takers do not jump off cliffs.

This can be applied to other situations, tree climbing, travelling in a car or baking a cake.

There is always a risk that you could fall out of the tree, or it could even be struck by lightning. There is always the chance the car will crash, or that you'll burn yourself while baking a cake. However you can decide that the chances of being struck by lightning are low or that the consequences of being burned while baking are small and then carry on with your life. You would still be, to some extent, a risk-taker.