What is the difference between Risk and Uncertainty?

Risk is the exposure to the chance of injury or loss, a hazardous or dangerous chance that you take, and risk can be anything from mild to moderate to severe. For example, you could risk your job by cutting out early, you could risk missing your favorite tv show if you go out, or you could risk your life by leaping to save someone from a treacherous fall.

All of these are examples of taking a risk. Risk can be understood as the potential for loss. Uncertainty refers to a feeling of not knowing or being sure of a particular outcome or the future. Uncertainty is uncontrollable in the sense that with risk, you know upfront that the outcome may expose you to some measure of detriment.

On the other hand, with uncertainty, there is no way to measure how uncertain you are or predict how uncertainty will impact the situation. Uncertainty implies a situation in which future events are not known. You could be uncertain of a lot of things. For example, you could be uncertain about your future with the company you work for; you could be uncertain whether someone you are dating reciprocates your feelings for them, and you could also be uncertain which dress to wear to the prom.

Risk and uncertainly are both used to describe a situation, event, circumstance, or decision that does not have a sure outcome. Risk is a point wherein a person is put in a position to decide on something but first weighs all the possibilities that can happen or occur. Usually, they base their risk assessment based on previous experiences by others, usual behavior/ patterns, the outcome of similar decisions, or through studies that were already validated/ conducted. Uncertainty, on the other hand, happens when the outcome of a decision is very hard to predict. Normally it is a 50/50 chance or something that has not happened yet. Although risk can be predicted by the decision-maker, there is still a chance of a decision to have different possible outcomes, so people really take time to think hard before they decide.

Risk can be defined as a chance you take, knowing it could come at a cost, and it might also mean that there is a chance for injury or personal loss. Uncertainty, on the other hand, is when you are in a state of doubt or confusion.

For example, someone at work could bring up the idea that they want to pursue, and you may be uncertain that it will work, but there is no personal loss if it doesn’t. An example of risk could mean that when someone drinks and drives, they are taking a risk by getting behind the wheel, and they are placing themselves and other drivers in harm’s way.

If a person is uncertain about something, it could be that your uncertainty is unwarranted because it is coming from the doubt in your mind and not reality. When there is a risk, there is usually more at stake.

When you say risk, this means that you will have an idea about the possible outcome of what you are going to do. For example, you will know how risky something is before you will continue to do something. When you say uncertainty, this means that you have no clear idea about what may possibly occur.

You do not have any idea when something is going to be over. For example, the pandemic is known to be very uncertain. There is a big possibility that it will not be over by the time that 2021 comes around. The risk may be related to the things that people do that can make them acquire the virus.

Risks and uncertainty are two terms that are mainly used for business but can relate to any aspect of life. A risk is a chance of winning or losing at something. For example, if a person starts a business and launches new products, they have a risk of failing, but they also have a risk of having a successful business. A risk can be controlled. Using the aforementioned example, if a person works hard, they are more likely to have the risk of having a successful business than not. Uncertainty is where the future is unknown. Many businesses are going through that right now with the pandemic, where they are waiting to see how the pandemic affects their sales. Uncertainty can not be controlled.