The implosion of Titan opens up the age-old question of how much risk should anyone take. The standard blowback is to stay in bed and certainly avoid leaving home if you want to avoid risk. True, whether it's merely falling or getting into a traffic accident, security is compromised when you venture forth. Did you know that second only to motor vehicle accidents is falling, which itself accounts for 15% of all accidental deaths in the U.S. 
But why even live if you do nothing, something only a very few rich souls can enjoy. So we all proceed through life in school, work, family stuff, watching TV, traveling, and the like. Then there are those who hang glide, savor bungee jumping, do night scuba diving, and, if you can afford it, take Titan to see the Titanic or, like Jeff Bezos, three years ago boarded his New Shepard rocket on an 11-minute journey on July 20 to coincide with the 52nd anniversary of Armstrong stepping on the Moon.
Odds were made before he left, and because of the simplicity of his flight in not even orbiting, his chance of dying was estimated to be one in a thousand. The odds of being killed on a commercial plane flight is one in 11,000,000. And, incidentally, if your plane does crash, you still have a 72% survival rate if you are sitting in a central rear seat, compared to 56% if you are in a center mid-plane seat. So when you make a plane reservation, don't do what I do, which is to pick a window seat in first class. Choose a green seat.
Whether for personal security, finance, sports or whatever, how much risk one takes could well determine how successful you become in life.
A study has shown that—contrary to popular belief—older people make riskier decisions than younger adults. Older people’s generally more positive emotions make them more optimistic when gauging risks. In addition, older adults are less deterred by the risk of losses than younger adults are. These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and published in the journal Psychological Science.
Ever wonder why your parents or grandparents seem to take fewer risks?
While the general perception is that older persons don’t take risks for potential rewards, a new study points to the type of risks that older people often avoid.
But the actual explanation behind less risk-taking is likely related to declining levels of dopamine in the brain,according a new study of over 25,000 people recently published in the journal, Current Biology.
Further, read Neuroscience for those details.
- Throughout adult life, your dopamine level falls by up to 10% every decade.
Dopamine is a chemical in the brain involved in predicting which actions will lead to rewards. Those who have a higher concentration of dopamine will tend to gamble more to win money, etc.- Thus, older people were less attracted to big rewards, making them less willing take risks.
- Risk-taking tendencies in the financial domain reduce steeply in older age for men.
- However, financial risk-taking does not drop much for older women.
Interestingly enough, risk-taking in the social domain instead increases slightly from young to middle age, before reducing sharply later in life.- Social risk-taking
Recreational risk-taking reduces more steeply from young to middle age than in later life.- Ethical and health risk-taking reduce relatively smoothly with age.
- If any of this really makes any sense to you, you will become an expert on this subject if you read the entire, very long, article.
Part of the above is reflected in what former President George H.W. Bush did on his 85th birthday with a 10,500 foot sky dive over main. He said, just because you're an old guy, you don't have to sit around drooling in the corner. Get out and do something. Get out and enjoy life.
Or maybe wealth can provide a clue. A study of 1,125 millionaires found they're more optimistic and likely to take risks.
- German scientist studied 1,125 millionaires (net worth of $1.9 million) to identify the behavioural straits they shared, relative to the non-rich and those who inherited their wealth.
- Had a higher tolerance for risk, but found this dangerous when they later find themselves in power.
- They were less neurotic.
Or more, the one trait that separates billionaires from the rest of world is that they believe you reap rewards by taking high risks.
- Even risk rejection, embarrassment and disappointment.
- In effect, you're asking for help, from anyone.
- Billionaires are great at relationships.
- Don't be foolish. Don't rush into taking risks. Pay for opinion before diving into something.
Space travel is certainly a high risk adventure, and I've previously mentioned Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos as two, but there are already eleven of them who took that trip. Here is one view on how billionaires approach risk.
Wikipedia shows 11 billionaire astronauts:
- #1 2001 Dennis Tito (right) first billionaire into space and first space tourist to the International Space Station.
- #5 2021 Richard Branson: first billionaire to fly in his own spacecraft.
- #6 2021 (nine days later) Jeff Bezos
So how much risk should you take? I took a lot of risks throughout my life.
- I could have gone to the University of Hawaii, but did not bother to even apply there. By some amazing fluke, I found myself a freshman at Stanford.
- Spent time at the NASA Ames Research Center on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Failed, but so has anyone else.
- Worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, twice, on laser fusion. Failed, but so have LLNR and ITER.
- Became an engineering professor at the University of Hawaii, where I ended up running the renewable energy institute for the Pacific.
Worked in the U.S. Senate and drafted the original legislation for hydrogen and ocean thermal energy conversion.- Took very early retirement in 1999, and nearly a quarter century later, still have an office on the Manoa Campus, to develop the Blue Revolution, write books, and I even gave a TEDx talk on the Blue Revolution in December of 2021.
- A few years ago I decided I had done enough for humanity and decided to enjoy life just for myself.
- I've entered various stages of euphoria since then, and just might be in one today.
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