I really dislike the way the finance industry has been conflating two notions that - while related - are actually different: that of volatility and that of risk

I really dislike the way the finance industry has been conflating two notions that - while related - are actually different: that of volatility and that of risk. Volatility results from the fact that the markets have a very hard time pricing an asset (because the asset's properties are hard to understand and its future behavior is therefor hard to predict). This results in the creation of noise on the price signal. It does not mean the asset is inherently bad. It just reflects lack of knowledge.