Controlling risk through knowledge is thus becoming increasingly hard. As a result the information flow tends to take control. People need to control the risks they encounter in life. One means is to try to do so using information alone. Another seeks to use information for rational interpretations, in which the relative standing of risks is measured, compared and monitored in different ways.
Common criteria are mortality and money, two forms of cost people tend to take seriously.
Both are hard outcome criteria, and from the viewpoint of health promotion we have to find new mechanisms to assess risk that uses information to its best extent. This can focus, for instance, on exerting greater control over our environment, and not just the physical environment. Another way is to improve people's coping abilities, and these demand a sense of coherence and perspective in addition to specific mechanisms. Some coping skills are learnt in early life, but others have to be sought out and assimilated. More understanding is needed to make it possible for people to make healthy choices when trying to cope with everyday life, in translating information into knowledge.