Modern dangers are produced by socially organized knowledge, not nature

Evidence

In conditions of modernity, the dangers we face no longer derive primarily from the world of nature. Of course, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters still occur. But for the most part our relations with the physical world are radically different from those of previous ages—especially in the industrialised sectors of the globe, but in some degree everywhere. At first glance, the ecological dangers that we confront today might seem similar to the hazards of nature encountered in the pre-modern era. The contrast, however, is a very marked one. Ecological threats are the outcome of socially organised knowledge, mediated by the impact of industrialism upon the material environment. They are part of what I shall call a new risk profile introduced by the advent of modernity. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 262

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces the ‘risk profile’ concept, a load-bearing term for the reader’s Luhmannian reading of system risk.
• XREF: connects to: Modernity’s trust requires the awareness that human activity is socially created, not divinely given. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 89; Social science is more deeply implicated in modernity than natural science. — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 104; Specialized knowledge without common sense endangers its owner — , A Year of World Stories, 5547 (+5 more)

Related

• Social science is more deeply implicated in modernity than natural science. (similarity 0.81)
• Knowledge of the social world makes that world inherently unstable (similarity 0.80)
• Modern knowledge is more opaque to individuals than pre-modern local knowledge was (similarity 0.79)
• Knowledge of social life does not produce greater control over fate (similarity 0.79)
• Modernity’s trust requires the awareness that human activity is socially created, not divinely given. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Modern knowledge is more opaque to individuals than pre-modern local knowledge was #corroborates (0.55) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 348
• Mechanized knowledge creates monopolies that endanger freedom of thought #corroborates (0.50) — Harold Innis, The Bias of Communication, 1123
• Both nature’s mechanism and history’s determinism oppress the modern self #corroborates (0.45) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 163
• Specialized knowledge without common sense endangers its owner #expands (0.40) — , A Year of World Stories, 5547