What really happens to your mind in a crisis? We all think we know how we'd react in an emergency—but according to journalist and author Amanda Ripley, we're usually wrong.

Drawing from interviews with real people in disasters—from plane crashes to terrorist attacks, research on human behavior under stress, and firsthand experience in disaster training, Ripley explores the psychological patterns that unfold in crisis: denial, deliberation, and decisive action.

00:00 Surviving a crisis

01:55 Your disaster personality

03:22 Denial, deliberation, decisiveness

04:05 Normalcy bias

07:01 The World Trade Center evacuation

09:57 The decisive moment

12:06 Modern survival

16:11 Advice from survivors

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.