蜜芽传媒

Neil
Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English, I'm Neil and joining me today is Rob.

Rob
Hello.

Neil
So Rob, what's the most dangerous thing you've ever chosen to do?

Rob
Mmm. Tricky question. I've done many risky things, but probably the most risky thing is bungee jumping in New Zealand.

Neil
Oh wow, bungee jumping. You'd never catch me doing that. Did you enjoy it?

Rob
Not really, no. I won't do it again!

Neil
OK, well today our topic is risk and how different people react to different levels of risk in different ways. For example, would you be happy to be in a driverless car?

Rob
Absolutely not! No, I don't trust anybody's driving - even a computer. So no, I wouldn't go in a driverless car.

Neil
OK, I won't offer you a lift! Driverless cars are the topic of today's quiz. The question is: When was the first driverless car demonstrated on a public road? Was it:

a) 1970s
b) 1950s
c) 1920s

Rob
I think they are quite modern, so I'm going to say 1970s.

Neil
OK, well we'll find out if you're right at the end of the programme. Joe Kable is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. In a recent 蜜芽传媒 science programme, All in the Mind, he talked about the psychology of risk and whether there was anything physically in our brains that could predict how much risk we are prepared to accept. Here he is, first talking about a number of different ways people see risk. How many different types does he describe?

Joe Kable, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania
Some people are quite risk-averse and really don't want to take any decisions where there's risk involved at all, whereas others are fairly risk-tolerant and in some cases even risk-seeking so they seek out decisions that have an aspect of risk to them.

Neil
How many different types of people did he mention, when it comes to attitudes to risk?

Rob
Well, there were three. The first group was those who are risk-averse. If you are averse to something, you are against it, you don't like it. So risk-averse people don't like to take risks.

Neil
The second group are those who are risk-tolerant. If you are tolerant of something, you accept it, you don't mind it, it's not a problem for you. So someone who is risk-tolerant is not worried by an element of risk in what they choose to do.

Rob
The third group he mentioned are those who are risk-seeking. If you seek something, you actively look for it, you try to find it. So risk seekers are those who enjoy risk and want to take risks in their life.

Neil
Associate Professor Kable carried out research on risk-taking and discovered that there were differences in brain structure and the way parts of the brain worked together between those who are risk-averse and those who are risk-tolerant or risk seekers.

Rob
So it seems as if this is something that could be measured. You could put someone in a brain scanner and tell if they like risk or not. I wonder how useful that would be though – is there any practical application for this knowledge?

Neil
Good question and one that was put to Kable. What area does he say this could be applied to?
Joe Kable
Definitely something that I can see coming out of this is using these associations to help develop better assessments of who's likely to take risks versus not. This is exactly the thing that financial advisors want to assess when you come to them and say 'I want to put my money away for retirement'. Exactly the aspect of your personality that they want to know is what's your tolerance for taking risk?

Neil
In which area does he say knowledge of someone's attitude to risk might be useful?

Rob
Financial planning. He says that financial advisors, who are people that give advice on what to do with our money, would find this information very useful. It would help them to assess what to do with your money, which means it would help them to decide, to make an intelligent decision about your money in certain situations.

Neil
For example if you are planning for your retirement. Retirement is the time when are able to or you have to stop working.

Rob
He also used an interesting expression there: to put your money away, which means 'save your money', 'put it somewhere where you can't spend it and where it can grow'. You know I think my financial planner could just ask me about how I feel about risk rather than giving me a brain scan. I heard brain scans can be risky!

Neil
Mmm, not sure that's true but anyway, what is true is the answer to this week's quiz question. I asked you when the first driverless car was demonstrated on a public road. The options were a) the 1970s, b) the1950s and c) the 1920s. What did you say Rob?

Rob
I said the 1970s.

Neil
And you were wrong, I'm afraid. Apparently it was the 1920s, so a long time ago. Well done if you got that right. Now before we drive off into the sunset, let's recap today's vocabulary.

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