Book: The Unthinkable

Very rarely do I open a book and, after reading the first couple of pages, feel compelled to write copious notes. Such was the case with "The Unthinkable." It may have been due to the psychological nature of the book, but each page had me gripped to the science behind the stories.

The author, Amanda Ripley, separates the book into three sections. In order to remember them, I saw a correlation with the title for her book and will include them in parenthesis:

Denial (UN)
Amanda starts out by explaining why certain people freeze when presented with would-be traumatic events.

- "Normalcy Biased", as Amanda defines, is the tendency we have to convince ourselves that everything was o.k. before the event, so it must be o.k. during the event. Denial is the easiest way to cope, actually it's the only easy form of coping. She explains that the casualties during Hurricane Katrina were proportionately old - not poor. They felt that since they had lived through several hurricanes already, including Hurricane Camille, than they would be able to survive this hurricane also and thus chose to stay at home even after officials told them to get out.

- Peer Pressure: Afraid of being embarrassed by overreacting to the situation. No one want's to be labeled as the one who "freaked out" in the beginning of a questionable event. She explains that many of those in the twin towers were unnaturally casual after they felt and heard a loud bang and shake. Many looked around at their co-workers, not wanting to be the first to act, and then once they did act, they casually picked up their belongings (afraid of losing their purses or laptops, not their lives).

- The biggest point which stuck out to me in this section - It's like we don't fear death itself but the "how" when it comes to dying not the "what" (this provoking thought will most likely be the title of it's own future posting).

A little math to consider:

Risk = Probability X Consequence X Dread/Optimism
and...(sorry for the science)
Dread = Uncontrollability + Unfamiliarity + Imaginability + Suffering + Scale of Destruction + Unfairness

According to the math above, we decide for ourselves the level of dread that we allow ourselves to feel, but sometimes our emotions are beyond our control. Amanda interviewed firefighters, police officers, and WWII Veterans who reported that some of them and their colleagues experienced a temporary loss of sight and/or memory, or had an out-of-body experience when faced with extreme danger. More embarrassing (in my opinion) is the report of temporary incontinence. 10-20% of U.S. Soldiers reported having defecated in their pants "at least once", but it can be assumed that this number is much higher since some probably reported falsely (I know I would have). The up-side is that dread can actually save us if it is properly controlled.

Deliberation (THINK)
Fear is typically at it's peak when we have come to a realization of the danger we face. Once we come to this realization than comes the time to act or perish. The level of survival depends on how rapidly we decide to act.

-A police Psychologist said "the actual threat is not nearly as important as the level of preparation, the more prepared you are, the more in control you feel, and the less fear you will feel" and a veteran Police Officer recounts that "the single strongest weapon is a mental plan of what you'll do in a certain crisis and an absolute commitment to do it if the crisis comes to pass."

-Controlled breathing - four counts in, hold four counts, four counts out - is the best way to master fear.

The Decisive Moment (ABLE)
The fear of panic may be more dangerous than panic itself (kind of a rip-off of FDR in my opinion, but still true in any case).

-Those who perform heroic acts tend to be those who are "helpers" in everyday life and believe they shape their own abilities.

- Those who are "bystanders" tend to feel buffeted by forces beyond their control and will "concentrate on their own need for survival"

Panic occurs if, and only if -
1- People feel that they MAY be trapped (a perceived threat is actually worse than knowing one is trapped)
2- Sensation of great helplessness (which is magnified by interaction with others who also feel helpless)
3- A sense of profound isolation

This blog was a lot longer than originally planned, but it was hard to pick and choose which of my notes to include.
Why, you may ask, would I include this book when I am supposed to be blogging about the outdoors? One of the reasons I love the outdoors so much is because I see every experience, whether it be a backpacking trip or an afternoon fly-fishing, as an opportunity to show mother nature that I can prepare myself well enough to enjoy any weather she throws at me, and as a way of showing myself that I can be prepared for any misfortune which may befall me.

Anyone wanting to know the psychology behind who perishes, who merely survives, and who end up as heros, should give this book a read. If you know of any similar books which followers of the blog, and myself, would enjoy, than please let us know!!!