On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:18:08 -0500, "J. Clarke"
wrote:

How does "better understanding of the risks" remove the risks? And how old
do you consider to be "old enough"?

A better understanding of the risks means that you often don't take
that risk in the first place. That's something that age and experience
can give you.

Along the same lines, a better understanding of the risks might mean
that you've had other risks similar to the one that's at hand and have
a better chance of knowing how some risk might turn out.

A better understanding of the risks might mean that you have the
knowledge to use a different method to attenuate the risk and not
experience injury.

Kids don't have the maturity and experience to better balance the pros
and cons of a particular risk. Adults are generally far better
equipped because of experience and observation than the brashness and
inexperience that a younger person would not consider.

As an example, I used all sorts of drugs when I was a kid, because I
just didn't understand the risks. Now that I'm older, I'd never
consider doing some of the stuff now that I did then. Not because I
had a particularly bad time because of drugs, but because over the
years, I've observed other people going through hell because of them.
My age and experience tells me what is sensible. Go ahead and refute
my experience.