[masraum]

I think much of what a person knows is based upon experience. No matter how intelligent and rational someone is, even if you ask them and they rationally know and say "everything could be gone in an instant", if they don't have the experience to back up that rational knowledge, they won't know it. I suspect that different people take advantage of life to different degrees whether because of their character or ability to understand and act on rational thought or experience.

If you haven't had some experience that tells you that you could lose X, you'll probably act to some extent as if it will always be there.