What are micromorts & microlives, & how are they linked to risk?
Channel: Risk Bites
Date: 2013-06-18

How do you know how likely something is to kill you? Or how do you work out how beneficial something is? Welcome to micromorts and microlives!

Just how dangerous is crossing the road?  And what's the real payback on eating healthily and exercising regularly?  Neither are easy to get our heads around -- especially when it comes to that ultimate measure of "badness" -- dying.  To make things a little easier, "micromorts" and "microlives" can help estimate the risks and benefits of what you do -- and what you don't do.  

Further Information:
Microlives -
David Spiegelhalter on Microlives: http://understandinguncertainty.org/microlives
British Medical Journal article on microlives: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e8223
Microlives calculator: http://journals.bmj.com/site/microlives/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microlife
Microlives: A lesson in risk taking (BBC): http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120209-a-lesson-in-risk/2

Micromorts --
John Green and Mental Floss on Micromorts: http://youtu.be/VLmBJ4_5eG4
David Spiegelhalter on Micromorts: http://understandinguncertainty.org/micromorts
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromort
Carnegie Mellon University's Death Risk Website: http://www.deathriskrankings.com/

Risk Bites was created by Andrew Maynard.  
This week's video was produced by:
Andrew Maynard
David Faulkner

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University of Michigan Risk Science Center. http://umriskcenter.org

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