we should not be so concerned with the future that we stifle the present.

The question becomes what balance should we strike between self-command

and risks? What kinds of risks are acceptable or unacceptable? In this

essay, we will use two examples of risks to show the distinction between

the two and arrive at a conclusion as to the balance one should have

between risk and self command. The first example we will use is of a

person who spends his life savings on a lottery ticket and does not win

the lottery. The second is of a person who spends his life savings on a

hunch regarding a cure for AIDS, a hunch that is false. Before we make

this distinction, however, it is necessary to define the terms acceptable

There are several ways in which one could define which risks are

acceptable. One could say, for example, that the only acceptable risk is

one for which the odds of success are greater than the odds of failure.

Another definition of acceptable risk might be a risk that does not harm

one's future. We might also say that the only acceptable risk is one

my attempt was unsuccessful, it would still be greatly appreciated. Just

that the only acceptable risk is one which is rationally thought out

not would be almost insignificant. Spending my life's savings on an AIDS

ask how these definitions, which seem piecemeal and unrelated, can all

almost insignificant. People still try them. Why? Because they offer a

answers would be consistent with one idea: the AIDS cure is simply

show that, regardless of the greater chance of failure, the attempt at an

the one we will consider in depth here, is the case in which one has no

general happiness would be negligible. However, if I were to find a cure

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 950
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)