The digital human. Risk 1/6.

Aleks Krotoski.talks about the nature of risk in the digital world. Some 200,000 years ago risks were easier for us to determine and our brains’ security system protected us against predators such as lions and tigers. However in this digital age there are abstract, technological risks that are conceptually new or different. David Ropeik identifies the problem; our brain still uses the same system of using instinct first and objective rationale second to identify risks. However, in the world of technology, instinct does not immediately identify an online threat, thus the question arises is our brain inconvenient or outdated? Trust is a major factor in our judgement of the amount of risk we associate with a person; Aleks Krotoski explores this idea with online social networking and ‘Jersey lifts’, a car pooling service initiated in Jersey. Sonia Livingstone talks about the concern of online risk in relation to children. Eliza Burnett has written about and plays poker online and talks about the idea of risk when it comes to handling real money with opponents they have never met and cannot see. Glenn Wilkinson talks about the dangers of our risk perception and its reliance on an emotive instinct, for example it is hard to get people to respond to the threat of climate change because it does not feel like it will happen immediately. This is also true of online hacking; the threats do not come immediately or obviously therefore our brains security system is up against these complicated threats that require a slower response based on objective thinking. There is fear of getting risks wrong, because our perceptions of risk are based on instinct of what feels dangerous. One way to combat this is to work on creating better policies and risk management rather becoming risk averse.