Is risk aversion undermining societal integrity?

From the progressive or “Post-Modern” left you can see the introduction of a whole host of variables that appear to be negatively impacting, or seem to promise a negative result, in any medium to long-term trend in society. People have written volumes and have arrived at this conclusion in both the analytical and experiential contexts. Yet, even as we’ve acknowledged this, the “progressives” continue to run observably unchecked in running havoc with society and it’s on this note we arrive to the nature of Risk, risk aversion, risk tolerance, and its impact on society.

Since the age of 9 when I first picked up On War by Carl Von Clausewitz I’ve been profoundly interested in military studies; mostly because it affords a window into the pinnacle of human existence: Risk vs. Reward, Scarcity of Resources, Competitive Environments, Limited Options, and the positive and negative nature of human behavior within these constraints. This later persuaded me to read studies and observations in Financial algorithms and economics, many of which follow on the premise of military observations, precisely because it must deal with maneuverability and success in a highly-competitive and often high-risk environment. At the end of the day, it all comes down to Risk and how such risk influences a host of social responses to it.

In the military context think of honor. Honor, at its premise, is nothing or more less than manipulation by social favors; a molding of a person into an intended result by establishing a system of positive reinforcement by their peers and society at large (or negative if dishonored). Honor is a system that requires a method of conduct even when no one is looking. Honor is a system designed to influence the Character of a person more than superficial personality; it establishes moors, traditions, and influences culture. What gives Honor? Risk. Honor is often accrued not just by taking or avoiding an act, but by the risk one is exposed to in doing so, such as going “above and beyond the call of duty and displaying intrepidity in the face of danger;” a line often used regarding the American Medal of Honor.

Throughout history and observation of this across numerous studies and fields of human behavior in both the organizational and biological contexts – we arrive to a strong impression that Risk has a strong influence on how we human beings assess value. Attributing value to something generally implies that you’re also willing to take a risk for it. Something of great value may even be seen as worthy of risking your own life, generally accruing much honor in the process. What happens when you enter an era where Risk Aversion and availing of the Self prevails over these often-pseudo-sacrificial societal proclivities inherent in honor? Without the risk you lose the reward; and therefore, the feedback loop is biologically broken – we lose value in or the appreciation of things. Perhaps the society begins to lose value in honor itself, begins to disrespect and desecrate the sacrifices of those who have come before as honor decays into a meaningless word along with sacrifice, duty, and dedication.

With the effectual decay of dedication, we lose the ability to fashion and maintain long-term relationships, where dedication and sacrifice are paramount for stability and reliability. The intentions behind the framework of marriage are therefore also broken. We then begin to experience the breakdown of social norms, of structure, culture, and respect. What’s the risk? Why not be a self-aggrandizing boot-licking sycophant to a bunch of people who are promising the impossible? Where is the feedback loop? What’s liberty worth? What’s freedom? What’s family? What’s life itself?

These fundamental components to the foundation and frameworks of society are important, long-standing, and crucial as they play off our natural human biology. Our natural territorial and hierarchical disposition, but more, our social nature; leveraging that nature toward a greater whole, a public good predicated on mutual interests and, in modern times, there have arisen philosophies of mutual respect (philosophies inherent in the Founding of the United States) within the greater context of society-at-large via the Rule of Law, Balance of Powers, and judicial precedents such as “innocent until proven guilty.” All of these things are subsidiary constructions that are seen as having value and are worth risking for; but, how much risk? If risk aversion reaches these places, if the people are convinced that nothing is worth the cost of a human life, nothing is worth sacrificing for – will these cornerstones of human development and Western Civilization come under fire by those who see them as an impediment to their lusts for conquest and power? Yes. In fact, they’re already under attack and have been regularly under siege since their establishment.

Just as the larger Western Civilization is under siege, and risk aversion is no small reason why.

“If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.” And that which precedes it, “If you’re not willing to risk for something, you stand for nothing.”

References so all credit is attributed where it is due:

Social Media Influences:

https://www.minds.com/newsfeed/839928979303796736 wmbean on Minds.Com (and my subsequent response – the churning of the stew, if you will)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8PFD1KNBus Derrick Grayson whose response on YouTube made me consider this concept that wmbean brought out in his piece, in the first place.

Scientific:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.0272-4332.2004.00433.x Modes of thinking Analytical and Experiential (Logical and Emotional)

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/276/1676/4181 -- Neurogenetics paper on biological hardwiring for risk aversion or tolerance for gains or losses respectively.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7f12/9787664da49795bc3ecd517c86b31d17bac7.pdf -- Heuristic approach to risk valuation and judgement.

Financial and Military: Too many to reasonably list here. As mentioned above, they study human behavior from the perspective of risk, as a default, which is why Financial studies often borrow from Military Theory in development of new algorithms and perspectives.