PT141.S3.P4.Q22

PrepTest 141 - Section 3 - Passage 4 - Question 22

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P1

It is generally believed that while in some cases government should intervene to protect people from risk—by imposing air safety standards, for example—in other cases, such as mountain climbing, the onus should be on the individual to protect himself or herself. …

Intro to Topic · When should governments intervene to protect people from risk?
Sometimes it's the government's responsibility to mitigate risk, e.g., airplane safety. Other times, it's a personal responsibility, e.g., mountain climbing.
In the eyes of the public at large, the demarcation between the two kinds of cases has mainly to do with whether the risk in question is incurred voluntarily. This distinction between voluntary and involuntary risk may in fact be the chief difference between lay and expert judgments about risk. Policy experts tend to focus on aggregate lives at stake; laypeople care a great deal whether a risk is undertaken voluntarily. …
Two Competing Criteria · Laypeople v. policy experts
When should governments intervene? Laypeople: whether the risk was involuntarily. Policy experts: aggregate lives at stake.
However, judgments about whether a risk is "involuntary" often stem from confusion and selective attention, and the real reason for such judgments frequently lies in an antecedent judgment of some other kind. They are thus of little utility in guiding policy decisions.

Critique · Laypeople wrong; voluntary is not helpful to guide policy decisions
Judgments about whether a risk is "voluntary" or not is often based on confusion and selective attetion.
P2

First, it is not easy to determine when a risk is voluntarily incurred. Although voluntariness may be entirely absent in the case of an unforeseeable collision with an asteroid, with most environmental, occupational, and other social risks, it is not an all-or-nothing matter, but rather one of degree. Risks incurred by airline passengers are typically thought to be involuntary, since passengers have no control over whether a plane is going to crash. But they can choose airlines on the basis of safety records or choose not to fly. In characterizing the risks as involuntary, people focus on a small part of a complex interaction, not the decision to fly, but the accident when it occurs.

Premise for Critique · Voluntary v. involuntary distinction is unclear
For example, is a risk incurred by flying involuntary? Of course passengers have no control over how the plane flies but they made a choice to get on that plane.
P3

Second, people often characterize risks as "voluntary" when they do not approve of the purpose for which people run the risks. It is unlikely that people would want to pour enormous taxpayer resources into lowering the risks associated with skydiving, even if the ratio of dollars spent to lives saved were quite good. By contrast, people would probably not object to spending enormous resources on improving the safety of firefighters, even though the decision to become a firefighter is voluntary. In short, there is no special magic in notions like "voluntary" and "involuntary." …

Premise for Critique · "Voluntary" is often just a proxy for approval
Both skydiving and firefighting are voluntary. But people tend to support government spending to mitigate the risk of firefighting but not of skydiving. Why? Because people approve of firefighting more than skydiving. So they're actually making their judgment on approval.
Therefore, regulatory policy should be guided by a better understanding of the factors that underlie judgments about voluntariness.

Sub-Conclusion · Policy decisions should look past voluntariness and into the real reasons
P4

In general, the government should attempt to save as many lives as it can, subject to the limited public and private resources devoted to risk reduction. Departures from this principle should be justified not by invoking the allegedly voluntary or involuntary nature of a particular risk, but rather by identifying the more specific considerations for which notions of voluntariness serve as proxies.

Main Conclusion · Policy decisions should be guided how many lives can be saved
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Show answer
22.

The passage indicates that which one of the following is usually a significant factor in laypeople's willingness to support public funding for specific risk-reduction measures?

a

an expectation about the ratio of dollars spent to lives saved

This isn’t identified as what laypeople use to distinguish between risks that should get government support and those that don’t.

3%
b

deference to expert judgments concerning whether the government should intervene

This isn’t identified as what laypeople use to distinguish between risks that should get government support and those that don’t.

3%
c

a belief as to whether the risk is incurred voluntarily or involuntarily

This is identified as how non-experts distinguish between risks that should get government support and those that shouldn’t .

87%
d

a judgment as to whether the risk puts a great number of lives at stake

This isn’t identified as what laypeople use to distinguish between risks that should get government support and those that don’t.

6%
e

a consideration of the total resources available for risk reduction

This isn’t identified as what laypeople use to distinguish between risks that should get government support and those that don’t.

2%

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