Racionalidad limitada y gestión de riesgos en la sociedad del riesgo global

Abstract

The prescriptive theory of rational choice is accepted for decades as a general theory to explain human behavior and was taken from economics in response of the lack social sciences had. This paper reviews some limitations of rational choice observed in economics. Through cognitive psychology describes biases in the cognitions of people when assessing data and making a choice, which put into question that human mind is programmed to follow the assumptions of rational choice (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979; 1984). In the other hand, raising risks in our civilization (monetary, ecological, geopolitical,) and its global character define our society, nowadays, as a society of global risk (Beck, 2008). The author discusses the limits of our rationality in regard of making choices as a growing and current issue to the necessity of coping with increasing global risks.