Security is a vital consideration in all aspects of life. I'm not an advocate of the ridiculous "health and safety" society that we seem to be developing, but security, real security, is vital if you want to be successful.
The key word is "real" security. So many times I see people who feel secure, but when you take even a surface glance, you can see that they are in a very dangerous position.
For example, how secure is your house from burglars and intruders? Lots of people have burglar alarms these days and it makes them feel secure. But if everybody has a burglar alarm, that isn't going to be an end to burglaries. There are ways around burglar alarms so burglars will not be deterred. Burglar alarms are only a deterrent, and they only work if there is an easier house to burgle in the vicinity. If all of your neighbours have a burglar alarm too, you are just as likely to be burgled as they are.
You need to be more secure than your neighbours in order to have any security at all. If you are equally secure, you are not secure at all. Burglar alarms and other security features give a perceived security, but not necessarily actual security.
National ID cards are another source of perceived security. Countries that already have compulsory national ID schemes do not suffer any less crime than those that don't have ID schemes. But, they make a lot of people feel more secure. There are some key advantages to them (and disadvantages) but they do not prevent crime.
IT security is an area that infuriates a lot of people. People buy virus checkers, malware scanners, spam filters, even "complete" security suites to make them feel more secure. But that's all they really do. The only true answer for IT security is education. With education, it is possible to have true IT security. But education takes a long time and requires the most difficult of skills: thought. Instead, people choose to just feel secure with an expensive software package that has good claims and means they don't have to think about it any more.
The last example of perceived security that I want to mention is sex. We all consciously know the dangers of STDs and unwanted pregnancies, but they still happen. People can't be bothered using condoms because "it was alright last time" so they feel a bit more secure. People don't bother with the pill because they "don't do it very often so the risk is lower". Then they don't take the morning pill because that's for slags who do it all the time. People feel secure taking all these risks because it's only sex after all. In short, because they are stupid and trust their feelings rather than choosing to think.
In everything you do, think, am I actually secure, or do I just feel secure? I cannot emphasise enough the importance of security, but make sure it's real security that you can justify, rather than a feeling. Just because it feels OK doesn't mean that it is.
