In James Cameron film 'Titanic', there are a number of scenes, have left me with lasting impressions. In one of them the young Rose (Kate Winslet) returns inside the sinking ship to rescue her lover, the one placed in the pursers office in handcuffs and was chained to a pipe. The water is rising steadily, and the young woman has clearly difficulties in finding their way in the labyrinthine corridors of the ship. Then the light flickers and threatens to extinguish. The young woman stops, pressed his back against the wall and seems to be paralyzed with fear.
'Just so', I thought then, 'must be when a ship is sinking. And that's how I imagine the feeling of panic. ' In Ripley's book, which mainly lives from the descriptions of various disasters Survivor, portrays an eyewitness of the shipwreck of the 'Estonia' very similar scenes; actually designate experts the state of shock described as 'negative panic'. Ripley explains how evolution historical purpose the behavior described might have and gives examples where precisely the motionless 'Paralysis' the person concerned has made survival possible.
The case studies clearly described are really the strength of 'The Unthinkable. On the basis of them shows Ripley on behaviors that are typical for people in disaster situations. As a result, the author tries to find explanations for the by no means always logical appearing reactions and trying to assess what kind of behavior in a particular situation is each better survival strategy. Panaceas there who would be surprised that, not. Nevertheless, the book perhaps can help to bring about a better awareness for dealing with threats to the reader. The conclusion of the book is the way, all in all, very comforting: The image like the media convey of panic seems to correspond in the rarest cases the reality. In exceptional circumstances, it seems to be the rule rather than the exception that people support each other and join together to form groups that act sometimes very prudently 'wants to say that the blindly raging mass is probably more of a typical Hollywood myth.
The funny preacher says:
Interesting, well-to-read, because alive and vividly wrote science journalistic essay on the typical behavior that show people in disaster situations. To what extent can actually draw a personal benefit from the book, I do not dare to judge.
