Embed Notice

It’s a popular myth that in crises people will panic and devolve into chaos. The opposite is mostly true: in times of crisis, people tend to become more, not less, pro-social. This is to our credit as a species, but it is sometimes to our detriment. I remember a story of an office full of people in the World Trade Center on 9/11, sitting down on the carpet to debate their next moves. Should they evacuate or wait there for rescue?

People want to stop, to discuss, to debate. No one wants to be seen as overreacting. It’s embarrassing. No one wants to feel embarrassed. What if you act with urgency and then discover afterwords that you didn’t need to? You will look like a fool.

Of course, if you act without urgency and then discover afterwords that you did need to, you might be dead.