Seth Godin:

A simple example: the typical high school student applying to a range of colleges has very little risk of getting in nowhere. Apply to enough schools that match what you have to offer, and the odds are high indeed you’ll get in somewhere. Low risk but a very high uncertainty about which college or colleges will say yes.

That’s not risky. That’s uncertain. It takes fortitude to live with a future that’s not clearly imagined, but it’s no reason not to apply.

Interesting thought. I’d argue uncertainty is almost as difficult to handle as real risk, but he’s quite right in that sometimes it’s simply due to our own inability to understand the fundamental difference between the two.