If an activist speaks out against the official line, he or she risks being labeled as crazy or a troublemaker. If the activist does less than he thinks is needed, then he is increasing the danger that disruptions will threaten his family and community. In addition to academic theories there have been efforts by y2k activists to characterize the way different people react to y2k. Sally Strackbein has suggested that there are tree people and forest people from the saying, Some people cannot see the forest for the trees. Tree people focus on the details of fixing computer code.
Forest people worry about societal implications.
My conversations have led me to believe that there are three distinct time intervals for which people choose to prepare. A small group of people attempts to assess the threat and then chooses to prepare for the worst. A second group acknowledges the threat and then decides to prepare for about three days of disruption, since that is easy to do. Finally, most people decide to wait and see what happens. Current conversations suggest that many people will be struggling to understand y2k even long after it happens.