Good stuff, Mark and Jim
Risk preferences vary not only by individual but by the situation. Recently I tried and pulled off a shot which I probably had less than a 1 in 100 chance of pulling off, and for which failure would have cost me at least two shots. I tried it because it was the 18th hole and my match was already over and we were playing for fun. The only cost of my failure was the price of a ProV1x. The benefit of my very unlikely success is a memory that will live with me forever.
If, however, I had been faced with that shot on the 18th hole of a stroke play tournament, and I knew or sensed that a bogey on the hole would be sufficient for me to achieve my objective (whether it be winning the event, being in the money, or just breaking 80 or whatever) I would never have attempted the shot, taking the pitch out to wedge distance alternative that was available. On the other hand, if I had been playing a match and was one down, and my opponent was on the green 45-feet away where anything more than a three putt by him was unlikely, I would probably also try the shot as it was my only realistic way of setting up a situation on the next shot which might change my odds of winning the hole from 500-1 down to something realistically achievable (say 3-1 if I hit the ball to 20 feet, as I did). For a third situation, if I were one up and my opponent had laid up (for whatever reason) I would probably chip out and take my chances of halving the hole.
So, we do not always try to score the lowest score possible, but rather plan and attempt shots based on a (usually subconscious) calculation of both probabilities and preferences.