Covid has all turned us into constant risk managers. This isn’t completely new. Even before the pandemic, life came with its risks. Now, the risk of dying from any particular cause is usually (thankfully!) very small. And here’s a problem: We’re not good at understanding very small probabilities. In this essay, the author argues in favour of an easy-to-grasp baseline to which we can compare any risk — an make decisions accordingly. The «micromort» is a 1 in a million risk of dying, which is about what you expose yourself to on a two-hour highway drive.

From Weekly Filet #381, in February 2022.