Week 5 - Lecture 8 - What is a risk?

Question 1

Vulnerabilities

Answer 1

Anything and everything can be broken, damaged, hurt, etc.

Question 2

Risks

Answer 2

Potential that something may happen to things

Question 3

Dangers (safety issues)

Answer 3

Unintentional, accidental

Question 4

Threats (security issues)

Answer 4

Intentional, wilfully, committed by humans (arson, murder, etc.)

Question 5

‘Risciare’

Answer 5

To dare. Sometimes risks can be positive (e.g. business or gambling)

Question 6

Three core elements of risk

Answer 6

1. Chances;
2. The future;
3. Intervention.

Question 7

Chances

Answer 7

Something might happen, but we don’t know wheter, how or when it will happen

Question 8

The future

Answer 8

For something to ‘maybe’ happen, there has to be a future for it to occur

Question 9

Intervention

Answer 9

To do something to change the risk

Question 10

You can intervein by…

Answer 10

1. Reducing the likelihood;
2. Reducing the impact.

Question 11

Coconut uncertainties

Answer 11

Events that are super rare, but have disasterous consequences.

Question 12

Subway uncertainties

Answer 12

Events that happen (semi) regularly. We can culculate the likelihood to make predictions.

Question 13

Known knowns

Answer 13

Stuff we now for certain, no matter what

Question 14

Known unknowns

Answer 14

All the things that we are aware of, but we don’t know when they will materialise

Question 15

Unknown unknowns

Answer 15

Stuff we have no knowledge of whatsoever

Question 16

Elementary risks

Answer 16

Mostly natural risks

Question 17

Man-made / manufactured risks

Answer 17

The remedies we make for risks, turn out to be risks as well

Question 18

Zero risk society

Answer 18

A society that cannot bare the thought of things falling apart

Question 19

Realism

Answer 19

Risks are real, measurable, manageable

Question 20

Weak constructivism

Answer 20

Risks are real, but we understand them culturally

Question 21

Strong constructivism

Answer 21

There is no such thing as a ‘real’ risk; risk is purely a social construct