Even when faced with an immediate threat to survival, there are people who still fail to act accordingly. In psychology, this is called the normalcy bias. As per the Wikipedia definition:
The normalcy bias, or normality bias, refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.
According to one article I read, understanding the normalcy bias could save your life. It was the story of this woman whose house burned down in The Great Laguna Fire of 1993 (this is Laguna Beach, California, not Laguna, Philippines). The author was rushing towards her house when she saw her neighbors just gawking at the approaching wildfire that was barely 1,000 feet away. Although she was intent on evacuation, she ended up frozen into a state of inaction, wondering whether she really needed to evacuate since she wasn't even sure if the wildfire would really reach her house.
Nowadays, with the threat of natural, social and economic calamities being very high, the question of survival preparedness becomes even more pertinent. Although we have seen a rise in self-sustaining survival communities and survival-oriented info is prevalent on the Internet (such as The Modern Survival Blog), putting this information to use presents another problem. Assuming you overcome your own normalcy bias, financial capacity certainly plays a big part in what sort of preparations you can make. Then there's also one's family to think about.
I suppose in the US the family issue won't be as big a consideration since people there are so used to being away from the family. In fact, independence usually starts at 18 years of age when one moves out of the parents' home. But in the Philippines where family units are very closely knit, it can be a challenge to convince family and relatives of the need to relocate to a safer place or institute preparations of some kind. If you think conquering your own normalcy bias is difficult, wait until you encounter the normalcy bias of several people grouped together. Even if you do push through on your own, your conscience may not accept the fact that you are safe in a survival community while knowing the city where your family and relatives are located has been destroyed by a tsunami or earthquake, for example.
Disaster preparedness instructor Ed Guevara has encountered a lot of this inherent opposition when conducting disaster preparedness seminars. In case that name sounds familiar, that's because I featured Ed Guevara in a previous article.
One of Ed's most memorable experiences was when he conducted a seminar in Semirara Island, just off Mindoro. He told the villagers in a seaside village that they were in an unsafe location and that they needed to relocate, but of course no one listened. However, that night there was a strong earthquake in Mindoro which was also felt in Semirara. The next morning he asked them if they felt the earthquake and then he said that that's what he was talking about, and immediately everyone relocated to higher ground. In this case, fear overcame the economic considerations and inconveniences of relocating. Unfortunately, not everyone will have such an opportunity.
But just as with other things in life, one just has to learn to play with the cards in one's hands. At the very least, by being aware, you are prepared to take advantage of any survival opportunities that may come your way. Picking up from the line in G.I. Joe, "Now you know, and knowing is half the battle." But I suppose the normalcy bias is the other half?
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