[Paddlewise] Risk vs. Rewards, Value of Life, and Social Externalities

…always sad to read about the weekly deaths associated with paddling. The
Chatanooga incident with the little girl reminded me again how dangerous the
water can be sometimes…

…then the whole JFK Jr. thing happens and all the press. The social costs
associated with risky activities are quickly exemplified right after the
Chatanooga rescue/body recovery attempts…

…and now an intense discussion on the Paddlewise mail list about safety
equipment and the Romans. A reminder of the risk vs. rewards of our chosen
activity…


We can’t go thru life without risk. Those that try to eliminate almost all
risky activities are either impractical or extremely *BORING* people. I
realize that I take risks everyday. Tho, I feel safer paddling the bays of
San Diego than driving the streets of Boston… where one-way signs are merely
a suggestion…   ;)

However, I do object to the logic of: “…it’s my life and I’ll do what I want
to…”. It is often thrust upon me when the topic of risk comes up. When you
decide not to wear a helmet when the activity (or law) demands it, then you
are not only risking your health, but my enjoyment of the activity. When you
crack your head on a rock, I’m going to feel obligated to help you out. My
enjoyment is greatly decreased and may even cancel my activity participation
altogether.

When I get to say I told you so, or think it, most of the time it doesn’t
make up for the altered plans due to the accident…and I am going to feel bad
:( . Therefore, almost all individual risk has cost to the larger group.
Some risk is of course acceptable. The excess risk is not. Your risk IS in
part my risk. Your risk is going to cost me some expected value of my
enjoyment.

Involving excess risk is inconsiderate to the rest of the group. Ignoring
the requests of a trip host is just plain rude.

Now, I am not going to get into the philosophical debate of what is
acceptable risk. We are never going to agree. All I ask is that one takes
into account the price other members of the group or society as a whole pays
when you engage in risky behavior. Of course, some are better at assessing
risk than others. The experienced, trained, and laws are pretty good
guidelines to follow when you are unsure of your capabilities.  I’m willing
to bet that almost all paddlers that have become a statistic, misjudged
their abilities and/or conditions. I doubt that in hindsight that many would
think the rewards were worth the risk.

In SF, I always wore a wet suit whenever the water was too cold for a
confident quick re-entry. The PFD was a given. In SD bays, well I risk the
donning of wet suits and PFD in the warm calm water near land. Although I
always carry my PFD. In riskier activities such as kayak surfing and water
polo, I always don my helmet and PFD. Not wearing a wet suit when the water
is too cold for a reasonable re-entry time is not acceptable.

I guess, in some perverse way, I consciously or subconsciously calculate and
weigh my risk vs. reward of my behavior as much as possible. I guess it is a
product of a technical background. In no way am I always even close, but I
try.

Finally, the value of life and the externalities of losing one. The recovery
of a little girls body from the Chatanooga or a JFK Jr. from the Atlantic
has real $ costs associated with them. Everyone has opinions on whether
recoveries are worth tens of thousands for a little girl or a $1 million for
a Kennedy. There have been many good arguments in the past about
environmental costs to society.

Of course the value of a life is perceived differently depending on your
point of view. My brother’s life is worth more to me than he is to you and
vice versa. Just cold facts.

In some bizarre way, society actually puts a dollar value on the average
life of a human being. By not spending $50,000 on a guardrail or divider on
a dangerous road where there are X number of deaths each year, places a $
value for those lives who travel that road. $’s spent on body recoveries DO
cost future lives. Safety measures or training & warning literature can be
pretty inexpensive. Now, I am not against recoveries, but social costs
should be taken into account.

By my guesstimation, the average life is “worth” on the order of ~$10,000.
That is society can spend ~$10,000 to save one expected tragedy. I may be
way off, but I think the number is much lower than most people think. And
yes I do think a President’s life is worth more to society to save than a
convict’s on death row. Although, obviously not true from the perspective of
the individual’s affected circle of lives.

That is not to say that a Kennedy recovery is not worth $1 million dollars.
You may find social value in the implications of the body recovery. I leave
that up to the reader.

For me, I value my life as $8,376.02 to society. Priceless to me, my friends
and family, but below average to society.  ;)

So much for my ramblings. This may not be as entertaining as learning how to
pee in a kayak, but hopefully thought provoking nonetheless…


Live long and paddle,

Albert Wang


***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************