, Columnist
The People’s Guide to Assessing Covid Risk
There’s a way to view all those mathematical probabilities, assess potential peril and stop punishing yourself with unnecessary precautions.
Have you calculated your tick-bite risk lately?
Photographer: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
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We’re often told that humans are lousy at judging risk, and the pandemic seems to have confirmed this in spades. What else can explain vaccine hesitancy or otherwise healthy people wearing two masks as they walk alone, outside?
Yet despite all the evidence pointing to our inability to make sense of risk, I’m still optimistic we can do better. To be fair, we’ve received many confusing messages from public health officials and the media. Take this excerpt from Smithsonian Magazine: