How does a person take smart risks' To start, mind the difference between recklessness and bravery, Arthur C. Brooks wrote in 2022. Free soloing a mountain with no climbing experience' Reckless. Confessing your love or going for that job you've always dreamed of' Brave. The intelligent form of risk-taking can add joy to life. But Americans are also up against powerful forces that profit off of the reckless kind. When my colleague McKay Coppins set out to report on the explosive growth of the sports-betting industry, his editors thought that he should experience the phenomenon firsthand. He quickly discovered just how easy it is to fall into the compulsion and delusion of gambling. 'As a society, we are making an enormously risky bet: that we can reap the rewards of a runaway gambling industry without paying any price,' he writes in our April cover story. I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that sparks their sense of awe in the world. 'This hornet perched on a...
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