The Unthinkable
Subtitle: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why
Publisher: Crown; Crown Publishers
Published: June 10, 2008
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 304
ISBN-13: 9780307352897
Subjects: General; Mental Health; Self-Help / General; Psychology; Disaster relief; Disasters; Psychological aspects; Resilience (Personality trait)
Description: Nine out of ten 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? Journalist Amanda Ripley set out to discover what lies beyond fear and speculation, retracing the human response to some of history's epic disasters. She comes back with 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.--From publisher description.