Abstract
Being alive is a risky business. How many hours of sitting in a smoky environment increases the risk of lung cancer? How much sunlight on skin will promote melanoma? What will be the outcome of a casual sexual encounter? Are we candidates for a myocardial infarct after decades of western diet? The “prime characteristic of modern industrial civilisation is a society that sees the future as territory to be conquered or colonised”, said Gibbens in a Reith Lecture.1 Our concept of risk has evolved from primitive star-gazing to spot omens of bad fortune, to the active management of hazards that might occur in the future.
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