Description
Explores the mortality statistics for risky activities in the real world, answering questions about the dangers of daily life through stories of the average Norm and a measurement called the MicroMort.
Read More
Blastland and Spiegelhalter present this humorous risk assessment of daily activities through the eyes of several characters ranging from highly risk averse to risk seeking. Using the MicroMort (a one in a million chance of death) and MicroLife (about thirty minutes of life expectancy) to quantify statistical risks in personal terms, the authors discuss the objective risks of a great number of common activities, some typically perceived as risky and others not, and many with a balance between risk of undertaking the venture and risk of not doing so. Covered are baseline rates of accidents, vaccination, violence, sex, drugs, childbirth, gambling, transportation methods, extreme sports, lifestyle choices, radiation, social conditions like unemployment, and medical procedures, among others. The final chapter puts these average risks in perspective as more like betting odds with minimal information, conceding that intuition and better data may often give a better picture of individual risks. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Read Less