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Title: The Unthinkable
Subtitle: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why
Author: Amanda Ripley
Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Format: Unabridged
Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
Language: English
Release date: 07-10-08
Publisher: Random House Audio
Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 551 votes
Genres: Science & Technology, Psychology & The Mind
Publisher's Summary:
Today, nine out of 10 Americans live in places at significant risk of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorism, or other disasters. Tomorrow, some of us will have to make split-second choices to save ourselves and our families.
How will we react? What will it feel like? Will we be heroes or victims? Will our upbringing, our gender, our personality - anything we've ever learned, thought, or dreamed of - ultimately matter?
Amanda Ripley, an award-winning journalist for Time magazine, set out to discover what lies beyond fear and speculation. Ripley retraces the human response to some of history's epic disasters, from the explosion of the Mont Blanc munitions ship in 1917, to a plane crash in England in 1985 that mystified investigators for years, to the journeys of the 15,000 people who found their way out of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Then, to understand the science behind the stories, Ripley turns to leading brain scientists, trauma psychologists, and other disaster experts, formal and informal, from a Holocaust survivor who studies heroism to a master gunfighter who learned to overcome the effects of extreme fear.
Finally, Ripley steps into the dark corners of her own imagination, having her brain examined by military researchers and experiencing through realistic simulations what it might be like to survive a plane crash into the ocean or to escape a raging fire.
Ripley comes back with precious wisdom about the surprising humanity of crowds, the elegance of the brain's fear circuits, and the stunning inadequacy of many of our evolutionary responses. Most unexpectedly, she discovers the brain's ability to do much, much better, with just a little help.
Members Reviews:
these days, you can never know enough......
First, Kirsten Potter performed a stellar narration. The book goes into some interesting detail about why some survive and others perish in disasters. In the last 30 or so minutes of the book, there is an amazing story about a security guy at MorganStanley who was on-site during the 9/11 terrorist attack. It describes who this guy was, what he did, and how it made such a positive difference in the survival rate on that terrible day.
fascinating
This (audio)book is endlessly fascinating. The author reveals that human behavior in disasters and emergencies often differs greatly than we'd expect. Interesting for a broad audience, and easily understandable.
Essential Listening for Survival
I found this book interesting from multiple perspectives.
As a self-defense instructor (LEO, Martial Arts and Womens ) I found this to confirm some training methodologies and explain some of my students successes. The lesson that Ms. Ripley showed in multiple contexts is that realistic repetition is the key to success in a survival situation. This runs counter to many self defense and martial arts methodologies that teach multiple techniques for differing situations. As a self-defense instructor it reinforced my instinct of teaching the basics in realistic situations until muscle memory is developed.
As an emergency preparedness professional (part time collateral duty), it has reinforced the need to focus on individual preparedness and the need to conduct a risk assessment of the most probable and dangerous contingencies.
