Risk Aversion in Aria the Natural

This show continues to surprise me with its beauty and depth.  After watching episode 24 today, I found the message Aria conveyed to be particularly inspiring.  In a nutshell, Akira (one of the mature professional gondaliers on the show) mentioned the idea of how people tend to attach greater significance on unpleasant memories rather than cheerful ones.

Risk Aversion models suggest the cause of this behavior: many people tend to prefer to prevent loss than risk gains.  But why do people develop these particular preferences?  Isn’t it mysterious for us to develop these particular tastes for risk?  In any case, at some point, preventing loss limits us from tremendous opportunities.  This is what Akira is talking about.  It’s truly curious that people choose to focus on losses rather than gains.  Furthermore, if we let our fear of risk cripple us, we will not be able to experience all sorts of wonders the world will offer.

Tremendous idea, no?

For the record, I sort of feel silly putting this thing in econ terms, but I found it fascinating that this econ idea can be applied to such a general dictum.

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