Say you were given this choice:
$500 free and clear
or
take a 50% chance to win $1,000/50% to win nothing
Which would you prefer? The sure thing ($500) or the risk of nothing for the chance to have $1,000? Which seems the better choice to you?
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Now I hand you $1,000 and I give you this choice:
You can hand back $500
or
take a 50% chance of keep it all/50% chance of giving it all back
Which of those choices would you make?
The possible outcomes of both pairs of choices is the exact same. You can either have $500 or you can take a 50% risk at having $0 or $1,000. Most people, however, will evaluate those two situations differently. They will take the sure $500 in the first scenario and take the 50/50 bet in the second scenario. The difference is that the first set of choices is framed as two possible positive outcomes. The second set is framed as two possible negative outcomes.
When people see all of their options as bad, they will normally take more risks.
At the bottom of my addiction I saw all of my options as bad. The thought of stopping forever and never knowing that relaxing feeling alcohol could sometimes bring seemed terrifying. The thought of ruining my life with alcohol was terrifying. The thought of going into a recovery program I didn't believe in and didn't believe would work for me was painful. All my options were bad - it was time to take some risks.
And that's when I discovered secular connections...
