Amanda Ripley's The Unthinkable

Why think about the Unthinkable

Disaster appears to be all around us, just turn on the news; the bombardment of death and destruction can overwhelm a viewer. It is easy to assume that trouble lurks right around the corner in the form of a fire, airplane crash, or flood. Amanda Ripley, a senior writer for Time magazine, embarked on a journey to understand what happens in people’s brains during a disaster causing them to react in mysterious and miraculous ways. The result is her debut novel, The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why. It is her hope that through this understanding people may become better prepared for dangerous situations.

Ripley makes a special effort to note that often regular people, the average Joe stuck

Humans are programmed as children to follow the leader, to wait for instructions and to stay in line. This teaching is wonderful for normal, everyday life but deadly when used in disaster situations where time is the enemy. Many people die in disasters simply because they were waiting to be rescued. There is also the false assumption that during evacuations people will move like water. Unfortunately, as Ripley puts it, “The problem with treating people like water is that water molecules do not experience pain or fear” (Ripley, 121). Most regular people will not be able to react quickly enough to evacuate an airplane in 90 seconds as experts assume.

Finally, Ripley takes on the task of analyzing the human response of panic, paralysis and heroism. Panic itself does not happen very often, the fear of panic can often be more problematic that actual panic. Governments and leaders are so worried about panic that they choose to keep people in the dark about a situation to avoid it. They assume the general population cannot be trusted with information or trained because doing so will result in panic regardless of the fact that this knowledge could save their life. True panic will cause people to overreact and chose the wrong response to a

From this book it can be gathered how most people will react in a situation while giving the reader the knowledge necessary to overcome natural instincts. I personally learned that in a disaster situation I should be prepared to rely on myself and myself alone; I cannot expect someone to swoop in and save me. Another important lesson learned is that knowledge is power when it comes to survival. If you have to think about what to do, you probably will not have the time you need to survive. Training your brain and body what to do in a situation is