William C. Clark Quotes
We respond to the unknown by trying to retreat from it, or trying to comprehend it, or trying to control it. The first approach is evident in longings for return to a simpler "risk-free" life that never was. The second is reflected in the fantasy of synoptic risk assessment: Measure the requisite probabilities and trade-offs, calculate the social risk-benefit function, and the common good will have been defined. The third approach is in the tradition of professional engineering. It serves us well but, as engineers have been among the first to point out, has met its match and more in the complex social problems it increasingly is called upon to address.
William C. Clark, International Science Scholar & Educator, Analyzing Zero-Risk Drug Testing Witches, Floods, Historical Management Perspectives On Risk Management, 1980
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In this particular case Griffin was referring to manned space flight, but the principle is a general one. Risk can be managed and in many cases minimized, but can never be eliminated completely unless virtually all activity ceases.
See {633639} for another quotation on this point.
William Cummin Clark is the Harvey Brooks Professor of International Science, Public Policy and Human Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
