I just finished reading "The Unthinkable." I thought it was a really fantastic and thought-provoking book. Amanda Ripley did a great job. I thumbed through the appendices, and they're instructive for learning how the sausage is made. I really appreciated how transparent and verified her reporting was. Since people who live through traumatic situations are not known to have the most reliable recall, she hedged her bets and cross-checked everything using multiple eyewitness accounts, coverage of the event if it was available and follow-up reports.
The chapter on heroism was really well done. She kept it on topic when it might have been really easy to just tell hero stories since people adore the hero narrative. I mean, who doesn't? It's just so damn inspiring and heart-warming to hear about people who save the day. Again, she spoke with researchers who have tried to categorize and dissect the particular traits of heroes. The researchers found that religious conviction, political leaning or economic status are not significant predictors of heroes. But they did find that heroes tend to have strong relationships with their parents, they have friends from different classes and ethnic groups, and they are likely to be empathetic. Heroes also have confidence and an internal locus of control. The bystanders, who are the majority, concentrate "on their own need for survival." This makes since because of natural selection.
I also thought it was really interesting how some of the heroes said they did the "heroic" thing because they didn't want to face the alternative of being a coward. In other words, they couldn't not act. I think this was actually one of my main motivators for joining the Peace Corps. I wanted to join, but I also wanted to do lots of other things such as go to grad school and live in New York City. I chose Peace Corps because I didn't want to be the person who didn't do it. Not that I'm a hero, I just thought it was interesting that my paradigm was similar. When people asked me why I joined, I said on more than one occasion that I didn't want to regret not going. It's a strange reason, but it was true for me.
The story about Roger Olian was gripping because of the way he helped the survivors. He originally jumped in the water to save them, which he indeed did. But he didn't save them in the way he imagined. He never actually reached them. He only got halfway. But the fact that he was trying to help motivated the survivors. It was all in their minds that they were getting rescued. The guy who kept saying he was going to die, did. Again, it's back to the internal locus of control.
I also think it's good that Ripley mentioned the fantasy surrounding our hero narratives. Some of those disaster situations create strange realities, including people getting in the way or wanting to be a hero but making a mistake. It's good to be aware of this type of person in a disaster.
I thought Ripley's conclusion was fantastic. The key takeaway here was that we need to train our minds and our muscles to react a certain way. I actually just practiced rolling out of my bed in the event of a fire and found that it was way more uncomfortable than I remember. When I was a kid we would stop, drop and roll for hours in the backyard. I'm a bit bigger now. Training the hands to not follow the eyes is also really tough. The woman who realized she was driving toward pedestrians made the right choice in seeking training. It also shows that we are not naturals behind the wheel. I had kind of less serious experience with that after a guy rear-ended me at a crosswalk. I had stopped for a pedestrian and got hit. After that, I would always look in my rear-view anxiously expecting a thud. It got kinda of distracting because I was looking for that person instead of focusing on the road ahead. I had to retrain my brain to not expect the outlying situation. Getting rear-ended is not the norm.
Finally, the story about Rick Rescorla was really inspiring, but so sad. He trained the Morgan Stanley staff for years for a disaster and even predicted correctly (twice!) that the World Trade Center would be attacked. He saved so many lives and then ran back into the building to save more when the towers collapsed. I thought about myself in this situation, and I don't think I would have been able to go back into the tower after escaping it. What he did was incredibly brave and completely selfless.
The chapter on heroism was really well done. She kept it on topic when it might have been really easy to just tell hero stories since people adore the hero narrative. I mean, who doesn't? It's just so damn inspiring and heart-warming to hear about people who save the day. Again, she spoke with researchers who have tried to categorize and dissect the particular traits of heroes. The researchers found that religious conviction, political leaning or economic status are not significant predictors of heroes. But they did find that heroes tend to have strong relationships with their parents, they have friends from different classes and ethnic groups, and they are likely to be empathetic. Heroes also have confidence and an internal locus of control. The bystanders, who are the majority, concentrate "on their own need for survival." This makes since because of natural selection.
I also thought it was really interesting how some of the heroes said they did the "heroic" thing because they didn't want to face the alternative of being a coward. In other words, they couldn't not act. I think this was actually one of my main motivators for joining the Peace Corps. I wanted to join, but I also wanted to do lots of other things such as go to grad school and live in New York City. I chose Peace Corps because I didn't want to be the person who didn't do it. Not that I'm a hero, I just thought it was interesting that my paradigm was similar. When people asked me why I joined, I said on more than one occasion that I didn't want to regret not going. It's a strange reason, but it was true for me.
The story about Roger Olian was gripping because of the way he helped the survivors. He originally jumped in the water to save them, which he indeed did. But he didn't save them in the way he imagined. He never actually reached them. He only got halfway. But the fact that he was trying to help motivated the survivors. It was all in their minds that they were getting rescued. The guy who kept saying he was going to die, did. Again, it's back to the internal locus of control.
I also think it's good that Ripley mentioned the fantasy surrounding our hero narratives. Some of those disaster situations create strange realities, including people getting in the way or wanting to be a hero but making a mistake. It's good to be aware of this type of person in a disaster.
I thought Ripley's conclusion was fantastic. The key takeaway here was that we need to train our minds and our muscles to react a certain way. I actually just practiced rolling out of my bed in the event of a fire and found that it was way more uncomfortable than I remember. When I was a kid we would stop, drop and roll for hours in the backyard. I'm a bit bigger now. Training the hands to not follow the eyes is also really tough. The woman who realized she was driving toward pedestrians made the right choice in seeking training. It also shows that we are not naturals behind the wheel. I had kind of less serious experience with that after a guy rear-ended me at a crosswalk. I had stopped for a pedestrian and got hit. After that, I would always look in my rear-view anxiously expecting a thud. It got kinda of distracting because I was looking for that person instead of focusing on the road ahead. I had to retrain my brain to not expect the outlying situation. Getting rear-ended is not the norm.
Finally, the story about Rick Rescorla was really inspiring, but so sad. He trained the Morgan Stanley staff for years for a disaster and even predicted correctly (twice!) that the World Trade Center would be attacked. He saved so many lives and then ran back into the building to save more when the towers collapsed. I thought about myself in this situation, and I don't think I would have been able to go back into the tower after escaping it. What he did was incredibly brave and completely selfless.
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