Your attitude towards risk

I once hiked Machu Picchu with a tour group. One member of the group was a recently retired pharmaceutical company CEO who seemed quite bold and confident. Although I don't know the details of his career, presumably along the way to becoming CEO, he must have had to produce creative ideas, take a stand on issues, and try things that might not work. In dollar terms, the decisions he had to make were probably pretty risky. I would venture to say that most people wouldn't be able to handle a job that involved the risk of being wrong on issues that affected so many people.

Then we came to a part in the hike where you had to hug up against a cliff face and scoot along a narrow ledge that was only about 2 or three feet wide. There was a rope to hang onto but still, it was pretty scary.

Long story short, there were old ladies going across this ledge in about 20 seconds and it took this guy over 30 minutes. Halfway across, he had a panic attack and couldn't move. He was yelping and saying he couldn't do it. Hundreds of people were waiting behind him, and the line kept getting longer. He never did calm down, but the tour guide and his wife finally did manage to persuade him to "just do it" and get across the ledge.

An hour or two later, he seemed totally normal, as if nothing had happened.

This story goes to show that not only do different people have different risk tolerances, but have different risk tolerances for different categories of risk. I am a somewhat mathematical person, and I'm totally comfortable with flying on planes because, among other reasons, I know that flying on a commercial airliner is safer than riding a bicycle. However, when it comes to risk, not everybody's attitude is statistical. Some people just conjure the image of being engulfed in a plane crash and decide planes aren't for them.

Are you more of a risk-taker, or not? Why? Does the answer differ depending on the kinds of risks involved?