1) Yes, there probably are such places, but it would take me a while to find the one that I trusted, and I haven’t put in the work. When you’re risk-averse and limited in the time you have to make decisions, you tend to put off weighing options that have a very low chance of success but a very high return if they succeed. This is sensible so I don’t feel bad about it.
2) Just to amplify point 1) a bit: you shouldn’t always maximize expected utility if you only live once. Expected values — in other words, averages — are very important when you make the same small bet over and over again. When the stakes get higher and you aren’t in a position to repeat the bet over and over, it may be wise to be risk averse.
Another issue is that people often use money for expected value calculations, when utility doesn’t linearly scale with money.
For instance, me losing $20,000 now would be more than 20,000 times worse than losing a dollar. In the same way that a cut 8 inches deep through my chest is more than 64 times worse than a cut 1⁄8 of an inch deep.
Another issue is that people often use money for expected value calculations, when utility doesn’t linearly scale with money.
For instance, me losing $20,000 now would be more than 20,000 times worse than losing a dollar. In the same way that a cut 8 inches deep through my chest is more than 64 times worse than a cut 1⁄8 of an inch deep.