Foolproof Book Summary - Foolproof Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Foolproof summary

Greg Ip

Why Safety Can Be Dangerous and How Danger Makes Us Safe

(6 ratings)
14 mins

What is Foolproof about?

Why do one third of Americans fear flying? After all, statistics show that you’re 1,330 times more likely to die in a car accident than a plane crash. Are we taking the wrong measures to truly stay safe? Foolproof (2015) explains why taking excessive precautions against danger can have terrible consequences, and why sometimes when we feel most in danger, we are actually quite safe.

Table of Contents

    Foolproof
    summarized in 6 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 6

    Sometimes, the safer we feel, the more we’re actually in danger.

    Although safety regulations are put in place to protect us, they can sometimes do quite the opposite. How can this be?

    When we make risky activities safer, we engage in them more often. Take driving a car, for example. In the late 1970s, anti-lock brakes were introduced in Germany to improve control over the car while braking. The government expected that this new safety mechanism would decrease the rate of fatal automobile accidents by 10 to 15 percent. Soon after, though, a study found that drivers in cars fitted with anti-lock brakes were more likely to engage in risky driving, such as driving faster and braking harder than drivers with no anti-lock brakes.

    Further research found that, as drivers were placing a little too much faith in their new-fangled brakes, they were rounding curves more quickly, which increased the rate of rollovers and accidents when exiting roads.

    A similar thing happened in American football. When helmets became mandatory attire in American football in 1943, the overall risk of injury was expected to go down. On the one hand, the helmets decreased the amount of broken jaws, teeth and noses. However, spinal and concussion-related injuries actually increased, with more than a 400 percent increase in broken necks.

    The reason behind these disturbing statistics was said to be that, as the players felt more shielded, they began using their helmets as battering rams against the opposition!

    The same happened in ice hockey too; when helmets were made mandatory in 1979, the prevalence of head fractures decreased while spinal injuries went up.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Foolproof?

    Key ideas in Foolproof

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    About the Author

    Greg Ip is an award-winning reporter and chief economics commentator for the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of The Little Book of Economics.

    Who should read Foolproof?

    • Students of risk management
    • Anyone interested in what caused the 2007–2008 financial crisis
    • People who are sick of that so-called “health and safety culture”

    Categories with Foolproof

    Books like Foolproof

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    26 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial