Who will you become during a crisis? | Amanda Ripley

Become a Big Think member to unlock expert classes, premium print issues, exclusive events and more"Humans, like most mammals, tend to shut down in really frightening situations for which they have no training or prior experience. Researchers call it negative panic. People do nothing. They shut down."

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We all have ideas about how we're gonna behave in a crisis or emergency, but it’s almost never how it actually plays out when we’re faced with a disaster situation, says bestselling author Amanda Ripley.

In fact, you have another personality – a ‘disaster personality’ – and it's helpful to understand what it is before you are forced to embody it. Studying human behavior in different disasters across history reveals a huge spectrum of responses. Sometimes people start hysterically screaming, others shut down. Some laugh in the face of a life or death situation.

In Ripley’s book, "The Unthinkable," the author followed people who had survived disasters of all kinds, and found that there's a pattern, even across very different contexts, from plane crashes to earthquakes. Almost always, people go through a period of certain emotions. Do you want to learn how to master your disaster response before facing a crisis? Ripley explains how.

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About Amanda Ripley:

Amanda Ripley is a New York Times bestselling author, Washington Post contributor, and co-founder of consultancy firm, Good Conflict. Her books include The Smartest Kids in the World, High Conflict, and The Unthinkable.