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Risk Intelligence
Book

Risk Intelligence

How to Live with Uncertainty

Free Press, 2012 plus...

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Risk intelligence expert Dylan Evans takes readers out of the clear but false light of certainty and into the challenging shadows of uncertainty. He defines “risk intelligence,” discusses factors shaping your relationship to risk and knowledge, and walks you through the meaning of this information. The result is entertaining but it carries serious implications. If you work through the risk intelligence self-test Evans offers in the book and online to help you determine your “risk quotient,” you may be humbled. getAbstract recommends Evans’s instructive exploration to investors, strategists and anyone interested in being more self-aware or making better decisions.

Summary

The Shadow of Uncertainty

Imagine walking through a room where the only source of light is a single lamp. You can see the items near the lamp clearly, and you are certain about what you are seeing. But some objects are in deep shadow. You can’t see them at all, and you know you can’t see them. That, too, is a kind of certainty: You know you don’t know. Most articles in the room stand in varying degrees of shadow. You can’t see them clearly, and how well you think you see them varies, depending on what they are, where they are, who you are and where you are. That’s an analogy for reality – the certainty with which people know things and how accurately they judge what they know.

Certainty is rare. You continually make judgments based on partial information as you evaluate the reliability of those judgments. Accurately assessing your own level of knowledge and acting accordingly is a crucial life skill. That understanding is “risk intelligence.” People with good risk intelligence (as measured by their “risk quotient” or RQ) know how solid their knowledge is – or is not – and feel appropriately confident. People with poor risk intelligence aren’t clear about their comprehension...

About the Author

Dylan Evans, who has a PhD in philosophy, founded Projection Point, a consultancy that specializes in “risk intelligence.” His books include Emotion: The Science of Sentiment.


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