Risk in the 1970s: Learning to Live with Uncertainty

The 1970s were years when uncertainty was normal.

Planning was possible, but guarantees were not. Life did not send advance notifications. Risk was not an exception. It was a daily companion.

Insurance in that decade did not sell fear.

Fear already existed.

Economic volatility, political instability, sudden disruptions. People did not live by asking “what will happen,” but by asking “what will we do if it happens.” Insurance found its role there. Not in promising outcomes, but in preparing people to live with outcomes.

Risk management in the 1970s was not a spreadsheet exercise.

It was a reflex.

When a house was built, people thought “what if.”

When a car was bought, they wondered “what comes next.”

Insurance stood quietly beside those questions.

Policies were not as detailed as they are today, yet expectations were often clearer. Uncertainty was shared. No one expected miracles from insurance. What people expected was simpler and more human: not to be left alone when things went wrong.

Learning to live with uncertainty requires letting go of the illusion of control. In the 1970s, this lesson was learned out of necessity. Today, it is often forgotten.

The digital age whispers a comforting message:

“Everything can be measured.”

“Every risk can be calculated.”

“Every outcome can be managed.”

The experience of the 1970s offers a quieter truth:

Not everything can be calculated. But everything can be explained.

This is where insurance shows its real strength. Not in eliminating uncertainty, but in helping people build a healthy relationship with uncertainty.

Institutions operating in that era did not speak about “customer experience.” Instead, they practiced it instinctively. They explained what could happen. They drew clear lines around what would not. They lowered expectations before reality had to.

This approach did not accelerate sales.

But it reduced fractures when claims occurred.

In the 1970s, risk was not an enemy.

It was a fact.

Today, risk is often softened by marketing language. Packaged. Rushed past. Yet uncertainty grows when it is ignored.

For organizations like CAN Sigorta, the legacy of the 1970s is not a historical anecdote. It is the courage to speak openly about uncertainty. To avoid selling certainty, while remaining clear inside uncertainty.

Because trust in insurance does not come from the absence of risk.

It comes from an honest relationship with it.

The 1970s taught that lesson well.

It remains relevant precisely because uncertainty never disappeared.