ABC TV local affiliate news came to my home to shoot a news story about Pandemic and emergency prep. Part of my Goju Takes Action campaign.
As I was showing them my preps (my ID will not be compromised) I realized just how much stuff I had accumulated and how deep the “what if’s” went. After 2 hours, I realized i didn’t show them “everything” LOL.
I began to think about what exactly I was prepping for and then about the rest of the world’s attention toward pandemic preparedness. While we all are screamimg for the public to wake up, world govs and big Biz has woken up and are making plans.
It seems as if everyone is suddenly aware of the danger. News stories are multiplying. We all are talking “worst case”
Unlike Y2K, there is no deadline this time. Unlike SARS, this beast cannot be stopped. There is no “deadline” for H5N1 pandemic and no end date. So the prepping and waiting and watching just goes on and on and spreads like fear in the dark.
A friend who is not prepping asked me if my heritage of the Holocost has affected my thinking… That in the back of my mind, there lies horror from another time directly experienced by my people… is that why i feel as i do? Maybe. Sh-t happens.
I look around and see so much happening on the Pandemic front and it seems to be getting frantic.
Are we all suffering from a sort of Mass Psychosis, feeding off each other… constantly growing and spreading?
In the end… there may not be a pandemic of biblical proportions. It may end up being quite mild… yet everyone is gearing up for the worst.
Any thoughts?… should we trust OUR thoughts if we are all suffering from this Mass Psychosis?
Ages ago I had an anatomy class that covered the development of the backbone, mammals, etc. It made me realize that in a biological or geolocal time frame, one year or twenty years isn’t even an eyeblink. Will there be a pandemic in the 21st century? Almost certainly — have been disease outbreaks every century — the two big questions are when? and how bad?
It takes just one peak at the mortality rate of H5N1 to know “how bad” could be REALLY bad. So, now we are left with “when” — I think I am most worried about this winter and the winter of 2007/08. If we get past that point, there ought to be a lot more Tamiflu available and more knowledge and perhaps a vaccine or other treatment improvements. I am sure I will be on pins and needles all this winter and next spring. I’ve told friends to prep and also extended an invitation to my “Spam” party that I’ll throw when two winters have passed (to which my teen replied “have it in October. I’ll be in college then and far, far away”).
I think we DO like to scare ourselves (all cultures). Somewhere on fluwiki is a fun account of getting ready for a storm. “Everyone runs to the store for bread, milk and eggs. So is French toast the offical storm food?” something like that. But I don’t see big businesses spending much time and money on things that just go “Boo!”. There’s meat to this scare — I don’t know that it’ll bust civilization, but it could get nasty and grim, including in my neighborhood. That’s enough to move folks — some Mass Psychosis comes with it, but I don’t see this as a War of the Worlds broadcast — I think this is real.
Goju -
There is no mass psychosis here. It is simple. Some of us have:
1. Read about past pandemics.
2. Read about the 1918 pandemic in particular.
3. Listened to Osterholm, Nabarro, and Webster.
4. Understand that history can and does repeat itself.
5. Realize that H5N1 (and other viruses) are brewing, spreading (in particular H5N1 going H2H), and are DEADLY.
6. Are trying to prevent as many problems/complications as possible if/when another pandemic occurs.
7. Believe in insurance policies rather than “hope” as a plan, AND understand nobody can forsee the future.
8. Trust in ourselves to save ourselves because we have been told we are “on our own.”
“yet everyone is gearing up for the worst. “
Not everyone. The people who are prepping and who are concerned have been able to find each other here and on other web sites. It seems like the ranks of preppers are growing but it is still a very, very, very small group.
As per mass psychosis, I definitely think people who are predisposed to being anxious can get “ramped” up by being in close and regular contact with other anxious people. What then happens is that you are not only seeing your own anxiety, but someone else’s as well. And if I’m anxious and they are anxious then we “must be on to something…” And if “they’re worried that the bird flu is going to go pandemic any day now and I’m worried that it will go pandemic any day now… then we must be right” All because you have other anxious folks validating your “feelings.”
It is okay to be worried, but IMO, we need to be careful not to allow our emotions to do our thinking for us. One can think/feel/sense/believe all one wants that the pandemic is on its way, but that doesn’t make it any more likely. Until you actually have proof that H5N1 (or whatever strain it might be) is sustainably going H2H, allowing yourself to freak out or allowing your PPF to increase just because others are allowing themselves to freak out is not healthy.
: )
Goju, I think it’s great that you are so active in spreading awareness.
In my opinion, modern technology has allowed us the sin of pride. We have forgotten that we exist at the pleasure of nature. In the past, it was crazy NOT to store everything possible and prepare for times of difficulty - but now that we are beholden to the electric/gas companies and 24-hour Wal-mart, we live as if they will always be there. Many people today would probably consider those in the 1800′s to have suffered from a mass psychosis just because they thought ahead, recognized worst-case scenarios, and prepared accordingly whenever possible. We crazy preppers are the ones that realize that we are all still animals that need to be fed, watered, and sheltered, no matter what, and that sometimes - despite all of our modern conveniences and supposed government protection/support - meeting those needs could be a challenge.
Maybe we - as a species - need to revert to that old-fashioned “paranoia” and recognize that we are still part of nature, and subject to her whims. Do you think that this will happen gently and spontaneously?
I see more mass psychosis around as Denial, pandemic and otherwise (living beyond their means, ongoing mass extinctions and environmental pollution,) really.
The scientists tell us how H5N1 and animals are doing, as much as they know, and that they can’t stop it if it goes pandemic, (and that if it isn’t H5N1 there are other likely candidates for later)
and it is like hurricane forecasters saying, That’s a Cat.5 and water is going to go 20′ over your head”,
or earthquake monitors in the Pacific calling the Indian Ocean and saying, “You just had a 9+ earthquake and we can’t know exactly where/when, but get to high ground now, as if there’s a tsunami possible until this afternoon, please”,
but tptb don’t seem to want the public to hear those messages,
and that is why it is so surreal to see people enjoying that morning on the beach in Banda Aceh, or, looking at what the politicians said the issues were a couple of years ago in New Orleans, or listening to what voters are being told is the most pressing danger to their families right now -it’s not Pandemic Influenza, but, the scientists who know their stuff say it is.
Trying to be prepared for a pandemic influenza year will get households and communities and nations better suited for an very uncertain, unstable, future anyway. Others are already struggling in the world; they need health care and better livelihoods, we need better health care and better livelihoods. Maybe a big global threat can get more people working on big global solutions. Or, grassroots people can get educate more people at the grassroots level.
Things became very quiet over the Summer. Now that pandemic flu is back in the news, maybe, just maybe, the general public will have a consciousness-raising over the need to prepare plans to deal with the risks.
If there’s any trace of hysteria involved, I blame the MSM’s tendencies to play up the fear factor to create attention-grabbing headlines. But the public’s hysteria, if it reaches that point, will fade, I predict. The attention will gradually shift towards realistic planning, prepping and vaccination research. I’m an optimist, I know…
As for hysteria among wikians, I think that would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis… There’s quite a variety here, from sitting-on-the-fence to hardcore survivalist, and everything in between. The medium to long-term preppers generate more discussion on the wiki, so it gives the impression that they are the majority here, but who can say for sure. Maybe we should have a poll, to find out for what duration wikians are prepping. Or has such a thread already been done?
I find the idea that we question our motivations (and sanity) a healthy response. I’ve seen many threads discussing avoidance issues, overreactions, stress levels, etc. For the most part, the one thing that seems always to be agreed upon is ‘Do what is comfortable for YOU.’ Don’t break the bank, don’t hit up the 401k or the kid’s college fund (if you’re fortunate enough to have such). Slow and steady wins this race. I’ve found value in all of these discussions. I’ve found a comfort zone that I can live with - in the event that an emergency situation occurs - or not. Cool heads usually prevail, and have. I will have lost nothing, in any event. And may have gained enough - just enough - to make it through hard times (with a bit of luck).
I have to agree with crfullmoon - I see more denial than prepping. The vast majority of people that I personally know are not prepping, nor do they believe that a pandemic, H5N1 or otherwise is ever possible.
Ottawan - yes, there has been a thread on the length of time folks are prepped for - but I can’t remember the name, nor could I provide a link, as I appear to be linkless in my computer capabilities;-)
Watching in Texas – at 20:11 Agreed. I’ve tried various ways of discussing the possibility - NOT the inevitability - of a pandemic. I seem to get the best responses by asking questions; Would YOU go to work? Would you send YOUR children to school? How, then, do you expect everyone else to do such? And what if that ‘somebody else’ is, oh, the grocery store’s vegetable delivery guy? Or the electric company poleman? Waterworks? How ‘bout emergency room nurse? When’s the last time you had to take a 2 year old to urgent care due to… an earache? Temperature? Tummy ache? How long did you wait for assistance? Under what conditions did you wait (a crowded waiting room? Surrounded by other unfortunates?) It seems to get folks thinking for a moment, but I’m not sure it’s retained. My friends consider me eccentric anyway, and so indulge me when I plead with them to set a little something aside - for friendly! I no longer discuss with those unreceptive. For those few that are I update on the science, to the best of my ability. Amazing how few people are interested in practical science these days.
Goju,
I think it’s healthy to ask this question every once in a while. Sometimes there is a climate of fear on the Wiki that feeds on itself. This is not healthy. OTOH, looking at the worst case scenario is merely prudent. I have a carbon monoxide detector, a smoke alarm, and a fire extingisher in my house in case of a worst case fire scenario. Most people would consider this prudent, not alarmist. Given what I have learned about our JIT economy, I would now prep to some degree, even if I was 100% sure that there would be no pandemic. It would still the prudent thing to do.
As for accessing the risk of a severe pandemic,I try to read every major scientific paper on the subject when they come out. I have been doing this for over a year. The news has been getting steadily worse, IMO. Based on my analysis of the available sequences, I think H5N1 is under selection to evolve towards adaptation to humans. It is already more than halfway there. This is not my opinion. This is published in peer-reviewed, prestigious scientific journals. No-one has ever been able to come up with a good reason for H5N1 to drop it’s kill-rate to less than 5%. Given the available data, failing to prep constitutes a failure of knowledge or cognitive functioning, IMO. There are more people who would prep if they understood the available data. We can help educate these people.
However, according to “Deep Survival” over 75% of all people will respond inappropriately to a clear-cut threat. Survivors are not the ones with a problem.
Today I was part of conversation and a gentleman from Argentina was telling how his family emigrated from Europe when Hitler was coming to power. My comment was, I am always surprised that more people did not see the handwriting on the wall and get out of the country while they still could.
Perhaps we are just seeing the handwriting on the wall and taking appropriate responsibility for our own lives. This type of preparation is also good for many other types of possible disasters that also seems to be, “not if, but when.”
Monotreme – at 21:12
Let me start by saying I always enjoy and appreciate your posts. They are very well thought out and clearly articulated.
The, “I have a carbon monoxide detector, a smoke alarm, and a fire extinguisher in my house in case of a worst case fire scenario…” is a very good example and can/should go one step further:
I have a carbon monoxide detector, a smoke alarm, and a fire extinguisher in my house in case of a worst-case fire scenario. I am aware of the dangers fire poses and as a responsible adult, I pay attention to any signs of smoke, which might indicate a fire is imminent. That said, I do not sit at home obsessing over the fact that a fire may start in my house any day now.
Fires happen. A fire may happen to me. I have taken all the steps (prepped) I can to guard against a fire and while I am keep an eye peeled for any signs of one, I don’t let fear of a fire run my life.
: )
Are we there yet – at 21:43
Thanks, and I agree with the rest of your comments.
I make sure I do at least one thing I really enjoy every day. That way, if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, I can leave the world knowing I had alot of fun. I plan to continue that philosophy during a pandemic.
Positive Mental Attitude. It’s a good thing.
Perhaps reading M. Randolph Kruger’s comments on the effect measure blog might be a reality check for our sense of perspective on getting prepped. The whole blog, is interesting, bu I resonate most with Mr. Kruger’s post and have been impressed with his writing on other occasions, as well.
In part,”At the expected one month mark of the wave, they will know what they are going to have roughly by modelings and its not a good scenario at all folks. They are extremely worried that H5N1 will come roaring across this planet in the Indonesian way and this is about 80% mortality.”
Read the enitre post in context at http://tinyurl.com/ygcff5
“Any thoughts?… should we trust OUR thoughts if we are all suffering from this Mass Psychosis? “
I would suggest don’t worry about being nuts. Be nuts… and also store some. Events will decide whether those who prep have been worry worts or not. Trust your intuition as much as your thoughts. Be rational but feel your way along as well. I recently started burning gasoline I stablized (with Sta-Bil) and stored last winter - it’s a year old and the car runs fine on it. Am going to put up 40 gallons again this winter. Am I nuts for doing this? Who cares. I personally don’t think so and frankly don’t care what you think about it.
Our supply chain is tenuous and fragile. Trust it to work well during troubled times at your own peril.
Mass Psychosis?
Is it here, Yes. Fear is a great motivator.
The thought I keep coming back to is…being prepared is a positive position. BF may or maynot come but unexpected events will be a constant. When I took a larger view of my preparations, then the fear became managable and my actions seemed reasonable.
(Ugh, James in MT; “surprised that more people did not see the handwriting on the wall and get out of the country while they still could.” That’s the other nagging issue on my mind. I’m going to try and get some sleep, anyway.)
I’ve been following this potential pandemic for just over a year now. At first I was very scared and was prepping like crazy. When we got ‘enough’, whatever that is, I calmed down greatly. While I still watch daily, I still live and enjoy my life. What I have found is that I have come to actually enjoy things much more than ever. Perhaps it’s similar to someone who has had a near-death experience learning to appreciate the mundane things they have even more.
M. Randolph Kruger says from effect measure blog:
“My opinion? They are expecting high numbers and will not acknowlege it because to do so would cause a panic now. Answers? I havent got many except to say to prepare. No big answers from this end of the fence except to say think of it as ants. Lose the queen and they chose a new one. Lose the workers and they grow a new one. Hit that mother with a can of Raid and then tell me how many make it out.
H5N1 is a can of Raid.”
This is insane… 80% CFR Pandemic? Hell that is with hospital care!
I cant say I feel alarmed when I think abt BF - I am more just fascinated with with what appears to be happening - I have enough preps on hand to SIP comfortably for a reasonable period of time though because I think we might be in for a rough ride, but I am not frightened - yet!
Mosaic at 22:59
YES! Long hot showers. Ice cream. Chocolate. Central heating. An assortment of grocery stores to choose from. Pizza. The Internet. All you good hearted people. And the list goes on and on.
Goju:
I’m surprised you started this thread (of all people). Yes, there is a lemming like run from time to time on the threads. We like to think we’re elite, but it could be equally true were in the 2% (counting the lurkers) who crash and burn. There are plenty of stories during Y2K of survivalists warning the ignorant massess and then turning around and taking off from work leaving everyone else to run the hospital floor or business. A lot of those people were marginalized and one head nurse fired. She gave dire predictions, handed out flyers, doubled the staffing and then holed up in her cave I’m sure feeling justified and virtueous that she tried to save people. The older nurses who tell this story also take full credit for storming hospital administration and saying either she goes or we’re all quiting. Guess who left?
Pass mychosis is the ability to see mass psychosis in everyone else but not believing you are yourself infected.
Goju, there is a downside to everything. Most folks here have weighed the pros and cons and have come down on the side where the extra protection against panflu is worth the extra resource expenditures (money, storage space, time spent prepping, etc.). They have done so only after being motivated by a healthy dose of fear after reviewing the information available. However, a small percentage feel that fear in any of its forms will bring on the balance positive outcomes. I am not in that small minority. Like anything else, too much of a good thing (a healthy dose of fear, in this case) can lead to negative results. That becomes evident where you expend valuable resources but don’t realize a net gain. You might, for instance, buy in a panic mode something with a short shelf life, or something that would be more comforting than necessary in the event of an emergency.
I think many of us don’t know where that line of diminishing returns is, whether we’ve reached it or passed it. There have been several instances in the past where a major event in cluster outbreaks (Turkey comes to mind) sent several people over the edge. You can go back and review their comments and see for yourself. These folks jumped to their own conclusions, and I think several others “borrowed” those conclusions without doing their own homework. I don’t criticize them. I have come close to doing it myself. I think the important thing is to force yourself not to take any action for at least 24 hours before you see what is actually going on. It is a lesson in self-discipline, but it gives you more time to collect more information and to let the thinking side of you retake the reactionary side. Just my 2 cents’ worth.
Goju - Most people I know seem to sense something is not right with our world these days. I have friends who are more concerned about global warming that bird flu. I have other friends who are convinced there is a hidden comet heading for earth. Is this mass psychosis and hysteria? I don’t really think so.
I think most folks feel like their lives are out of control. We boomers have lived in times of unprecendented peace and prosperity. Our children and grandchildren have never really known want.
From talking to my friends, co-workers and neighbors - there is a general sense that something is not right. Normal middle class folks are squirreling away money, food, preps for something. It may not always be pandemic influenza but folks are preparing for catastrophic conditions.
The nature of a forum such as this is that we are a self-selecting group of people. We have found in each other a group of commonly shared beliefs. Those who do not feel the way do don’t stay long and move elsewhere. I hope that many who visit the wiki are reading some of the other invaluable documents provided and are quitely prepping on their own. Do we feed into each others fears? Perhaps a bit. But, there are too many of us feeling the same way to ignore that there is something going on out there. Many of us have done quite a lot to try and get the message out there. What others choose to do with that information is their choice. We can only do our best and do what is best for our own perosnal situations.
Anyone in Buffalo with 22 inches of snow and the power grid down would be very happy if they have prepped. Over 100000 without power and the pumping station for water out of order. I don’t think its mass psychosis, but when a group encourages each other we are priming the pump so to speak. I’m satisfied and comfortable with a minimal prepping, others need comrehensive insurance with everything covered. Mine is a minimal policy.
Mine, too, Diana. My family is prepped for only 6 weeks.
LauraB - well said.
As a widow living alone quite happily, I must admit I miss my husbands expertise on so many levels. Happy in marriage, happy alone. There are many single women on this board, or married with children who are doing whatever they can to keep the status quo. They don’t want to be dependent, they value their independence. This is one way to do that. I like being as self reliant as possible, though I am grateful for any kind soul who extends a helping hand in a stressful situation. The trouble with major catastrophic events is that helping hand can’t help everyone, so we must struggle along as best we can.I just wish the public wasn’t so complaicent.I used Buffalo as an example with someone this morning. A very intelligent competent woman. Nothing is going to disturb her very,very comfortable existence.
(Until Mother Nature drops by with the 2by4 saved just for the very intelligent competent woman? We’ve all got a unique few with our names on them, just don’t know the delivery dates when they’ll show upside our heads.)
I’m going to make a bit of an effort with this very intelligent lady. A few bottles of water won’t do a bit of good in a pinch. Her husband will be mayor of this small town in November. (no opposition on the ballot I think its a foregone conclusion). So I’ll print up a slew of stuff. I said something last year but she brushed it off. When you lead a very comfortable life all your days, have backup and a network its easy to assume all your lifetime will be that comfortable. She has a vast network of aquaintances and has done extensive charity work, so she might effect a large number of people if she chooses to do so.I am suprised this very well connected lady isn’t up to speed on this. I’m not social as I go and do my own thing, not affiliated with any group as my interests are not main stream.I haven’t really gone beyond suggesting people pay attention to the Government site and stock up for their children.I did it this time last year, just before Halloween, I guess its time to pass on more information. I won’t preach prepping, not my style.
Pseudorandom at 18:59 -
You hit the nail on the head. I think those of us who are prepping, for whatever reason, are just finally coming out of some deep, dark (and kinda stupid) funk that we’ve been in. My parents and grandparents lived a “be prepared for anything” way of life long before it had a name and long before bird flu. It was never even talked about - what we call today a “no- brainer”.
1918 happened.
And you know what else? Just because you are paranoid does not mean someone isn’t following you.
CabinLass – at 14:23
And you know what else? Just because you are paranoid does not mean someone isn’t following you.
Reader – at 04:51
Pass mychosis is the ability to see mass psychosis in everyone else but not believing you are yourself infected.
Lol! :)
CabinLass – at 14:23 And you know what else? Just because you are paranoid does not mean someone isn’t following you.
Lol.
I also like the version: When you stop being paranoid, that’s when they get you.
The physicist Richard Feynman told a funny story about his draft-board inspection. After the physical inspection, all the men had to talk to a psychologist. The doctor asked him a string of questions, including “do you ever think people are looking at you.” Feynman, a very logical man, said, “well, yes.” The doctor paused, wrote something down, then asked if he thought people were looking at him at that moment. Feynman looked over his shoulder at the men sitting nearby, awaiting their turn. Several were watching him, so Feynman said, “yes.”
That and a few other honest and logical answers to the psychologist got him labeled unfit for military service.
They were right about Feynman. He was an original thinker, and that isn’t all that good sometimes in a lowly private. Perhaps we are not copy cats in this, but original thinkers. If you think for yourself you don’t give too much of a tinkers damn to what someone else regards as foolish. You do your thing and take the lumps and smiles. The fool in courts was often the most witty and observant person around.
James in MT @ 21:21 - I agree that it certainly was heartbreaking that more people did not leave Germany before it was too late. I have to point out, however, that for Jews, emigration was not always an option. Many countries, including the United States, closed their doors to Jewish immigrants from Germany, and they were forced to return to their country of origin. According to the “Holocaust Encyclopedia,” the 1938 Evian Conference that convened in France to consider the plight of European Jews was a failure as “no country except the Dominican Republic was prepared to increase immigration quotas.” This excellent article also relates the story of the “St. Louis,” a ship carrying 900 Jewish refugees that was turned away by both Cuba and the United States. It was forced to return to Germany where most of these refugees died in concentration camps.
In 1967 my father worked at Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville Alabama. He met an “older” man, nearing retirement, who was under 18 months old when his folks died. They lived in the mountains and since he was the youngest of 8 or 9 he stayed with an older sister. Some of the ‘tweens were farmed out to other relatives. The 16 year old sister had three or four of the kids, including the baby to take care of (with assistance).
Well a winter storm came up, a bad one. It was two weeks before the neighbors could get in to where the sister and kids were. When they got into the house they found the baby under the body of his 16 year old sister, in a pile with the others. They had run out of food and run out of wood to burn. He was alive, barely. Their bodies shielding him from the worst of the freezing temperatures. He must have been old enough to remember, or had impressions of it.
When my father met him he had a house built into the mountain, covering a small opening to a very large cave. In the cave was enough food, fuel, and medication to survive anything. The man made NO apologies. He simply told my father, “nobody in my family will ever starve or freeze to death again”. I’ve always remembered that story and I prepare with no apologies. I just wish I knew where that house was, and that it was on the market!
History Lover at 15:51
Thank you, now I know why more people did not leave their country of origen as Hitler was coming into power. I also know that there are little or no options for most poor people, then or now. So we can expect them to act like the starving, desperate people they will be. This touches upon another current thread, “Pandemic Violence.” If we ourselves,do not prepare, then we will be among the desperate, starving people willing to do most anything to feed their family. At some point for me and my loved ones, I believe the answer will be, “Location, Location and Location.”
That man had obviously gone insane from his experience.
I’m just trying to figure out what my experience was that has driven me insane.
I think I share, whatever it is, with many here.
The morning and early afternoon has been spent, a quiet day at home, washing buckets, finding lids to buckets, losing lids to buckets and think they’re just like socks. An aversion for their mate. They’ve been spent in talk about scary stuff on the news thread. Conversation on oxygen absorber use, don’t spend any more money, but we’re almost done with our list! No we’re not. It seems every finishing list only spawns others, an endless birthing process. And each acquisetion brings unease, insecurity. Will they forcibly enter the house? Will I be able to share? Do our neighbors, the dad is a cop ones, know what we’re doing.
Oh great. I totally did not mean to press “post.” Was just messing around with some thoughts and refections, pondering whether or not to post. Darn it.
And I didn’t even look” acquisition” up on dictionary.com.
(out-of-order snips from) http://www.psandman.com/col/fear.htm
…”People may become very anxious, but in a crunch, they turn to the most reliable sources, and they usually think that is the officials … right up until the officials mislead them or treat them with patronizing contempt.”…
“ Just as accusations of panic are partly projection, officials who come across as over-confident and over-reassuring are partly trying to convince themselves — trying to allay their own feelings of self-doubt and alarm.
But there is something else going on here as well. The people responsible for keeping us safe are inevitably torn between a desire to warn us and a desire to reassure us. Warning us builds the constituency for various sorts of personal and societal precaution-taking; among other things it increases officials’ budgets, and if the money is well spent it actually makes us safer. Reassuring us accomplishes none of that, but at least it makes us feel safer — or so officials mistakenly hope - and thus gets us off their backs for a while.”…
“Projection isn’t the only possible reason why officials overestimate the risk of panic. Another possibility: emotional rehearsal. People get used to new threats on the horizon by acting as if they were already here; wearing an N95 mask on the subway is a form of emotional preparation for a feared future disease outbreak. In a similar way, perhaps officials who imagine that the public is panicking are also emotionally rehearsing, getting themselves ready for the unlikely but truly horrifying contingency of a possible future panic”…
…”Like nearly everyone else we know, we passionately prefer the old American normal to our new normal. And like nearly everyone else we know, we are adjusting nonetheless to the new normal. Of course you don’t want to frighten people. But if preparedness is your goal you have no choice. And people can bear it”…
…”Throughout most of history there has been much more to be afraid of than in the modern era. (People in the developing world still have far more to fear than we do — although our fear of losing the good life we have is a genuine source of anxiety.)
We are evolutionarily equipped to deal with way more stress than we are usually called upon to deal with.
We are wired to be vigilant, for survival’s sake. In biological, social, and psychological terms, people have been adjusting to new realities, or to resurgences of old realities, forever. There is no “old normal” to go back to that was safe and non-stressful; there were only waves of more and less stressful times, and we have adjusted to each wave.”…
…”Officials tend to want a “push-button public” that does what it is told but has no opinions or feelings of its own — certainly none that would lead it to question its leaders’ leadership. They want a public that waits calmly, even apathetically, until told to do something, and then acts instantly and unquestioningly. They want a public that takes prescribed precautions cheerfully, and takes no other precautions period. It is natural to want that … but officials must learn to accept that they can’t have it.”…
…”Fearfulness is so fundamental to normal human psychology that when we are not dealing with enough real dangers, we “practice.”
Midwesterners track hurricanes for fun; easterners are riveted by tornado footage on the Weather Channel. On the most passive level, we watch scary TV shows and movies. When all else fails, we practice by worrying about asteroids hitting the earth. It is not that we “like” being scared, exactly. It is more that, biologically, the impulse to be vigilant is present whether there is an immediate threat or not; it can be thought of as an itch that needs to be scratched, even as a drive.
Some of us have more of this drive than others. However much of it we have, we will find an outlet for it — whether it be volunteer work as an EMT, weekend bungee jumping, obsessing over pesticide residues, or watching for terrorists.
Frightening people in advance about terrorism, or SARS, or some other potentially significant hazard, is necessary to help the society prepare to cope with the situation. For most people it is not psychically harmful; except temporarily, it isn’t even an increase in their fearfulness, only a reallocation of it. Helping people bear their fear is much more useful than trying not to frighten them.”…
It isn’t much different than health issues. Some people are anxious and learn all they can about their condition. Some people are middle of the road, trust their doctors and learn all they can ,and are vigilant. Some people blithely go on doing all the wrong things and burying any concerns. Who is to say which of the many types of behavior will keep you alive and well longer.No matter what we do or don’t do, where we are located will possibly mean we can make it. It’s in the hands of Fortunata in the final analysis.
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