The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why
by: Amanda Ripley
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It lurks in the corner of our imagination, almost beyond our ability to see it: the possibility that a tear in the fabric of life could open up without warning, upending a house, a skyscraper, or a civilization.
Today, 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?
Amanda Ripley, an award-winning journalist for Time magazine who has covered some of the most devastating disasters of our age, set out to discover what lies beyond fear and speculation. In this magnificent work of investigative journalism, Ripley retraces the human response to some of history’s epic disasters, from the explosion of the Mont Blanc munitions ship in 1917–one of the biggest explosions before the invention of the atomic bomb–to a plane crash in England in 1985 that mystified investigators for years, to the journeys of the 15,000 people who found their way out of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Then, to understand the science behind the stories, Ripley turns to leading brain scientists, trauma psychologists, and other disaster experts, formal and informal, from a Holocaust survivor who studies heroism to a master gunfighter who learned to overcome the effects of extreme fear.
Finally, Ripley steps into the dark corners of her own imagination, having her brain examined by military researchers and experiencing through realistic simulations what it might be like to survive a plane crash into the ocean or to escape a raging fire.
Ripley comes back with precious 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.
The Unthinkable escorts us into the bleakest regions of our nightmares, flicks on a flashlight, and takes a steady look around. Then it leads us home, smarter and stronger than we were before.
It lurks in the corner of our imagination, almost beyond our ability to see it: the possibility that a tear in the fabric of life could open up without warning, upending a house, a skyscraper, or a civilization.
Today, 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?
Amanda Ripley, an award-winning journalist for Time magazine who has covered some of the most devastating disasters of our age, set out to discover what lies beyond fear and speculation. In this magnificent work of investigative journalism, Ripley retraces the human response to some of history’s epic disasters, from the explosion of the Mont Blanc munitions ship in 1917–one of the biggest explosions before the invention of the atomic bomb–to a plane crash in England in 1985 that mystified investigators for years, to the journeys of the 15,000 people who found their way out of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Then, to understand the science behind the stories, Ripley turns to leading brain scientists, trauma psychologists, and other disaster experts, formal and informal, from a Holocaust survivor who studies heroism to a master gunfighter who learned to overcome the effects of extreme fear.
Finally, Ripley steps into the dark corners of her own imagination, having her brain examined by military researchers and experiencing through realistic simulations what it might be like to survive a plane crash into the ocean or to escape a raging fire.
Ripley comes back with precious 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.
The Unthinkable escorts us into the bleakest regions of our nightmares, flicks on a flashlight, and takes a steady look around. Then it leads us home, smarter and stronger than we were before.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Fascinating look at the human response to disasters.
"The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - And Why" by Amanda Ripley is a fascinating look at the human response to disasters.This excellent book not only describes some of what happened, but look closely at the "why" people respond the way they do in such situations.As Gavin De Becker, author of "The Gift of Fear" states on the front cover, "'The Unthinkable' isn't merely a book about disaster; it's a book about survival - maybe yours."
The book consists of an introduction ... Read More
Rating: - Excellent resource for exploring human behavior during disasters
I'll keep this short...
This is a fantastic book. If the title interests you in anyway, read "Unthinkable" and you won't be disappointed. After reading this I found myself checking for exits on airplanes and in hotels, and wondering how I would respond in a plane crash or building collapse. Ripley doesn't provide a checklist of the traits of survivors, but instead offers well written accounts supplemented by expert insight into just how the mind and body respond during these events. The interviews ... Read More
Rating: 
- not what i thought
i didnt get this book being in the medical fieldive seen the true uunthinkable this bookdidnt didnt even come close to showing how we deal with trauma or disaster this was a waist of time
Rating: 
- An excellent collection...
... of multiple kinds of disasters and analysis of various people's behavior in them. A lot of useful information emerges about what to do in different life or death situations. The question "why" (some people survive while others don't), however, still remains a mystery after finishing this book. Except for two attempts at explanation (1 -- bigger amygdala and 2 -- overinflated self-esteem of survivors) the book offers little insight into this critical issue. Understandably, this is still a largely unexplored ... Read More
Rating: - Meet Your Disaster Persona
Journalist Amanda Ripley takes us to ground zero of some of the worst disasters in recent history in a book that focuses on the response of the human brain.
The book is generally structured in stages of reaction that are reminiscent of the well-known stages of grieving that psychologists have used to describe the human psyche's reaction to the loss of a loved one.
In responding to disaster, Ripley organizes the human response into stages of denial, deliberation, and decision/action.
Read More
- Fascinating look at the human response to disasters."The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - And Why" by Amanda Ripley is a fascinating look at the human response to disasters.This excellent book not only describes some of what happened, but look closely at the "why" people respond the way they do in such situations.As Gavin De Becker, author of "The Gift of Fear" states on the front cover, "'The Unthinkable' isn't merely a book about disaster; it's a book about survival - maybe yours."
The book consists of an introduction ... Read More
- Excellent resource for exploring human behavior during disastersI'll keep this short...
This is a fantastic book. If the title interests you in anyway, read "Unthinkable" and you won't be disappointed. After reading this I found myself checking for exits on airplanes and in hotels, and wondering how I would respond in a plane crash or building collapse. Ripley doesn't provide a checklist of the traits of survivors, but instead offers well written accounts supplemented by expert insight into just how the mind and body respond during these events. The interviews ... Read More
- not what i thoughti didnt get this book being in the medical fieldive seen the true uunthinkable this bookdidnt didnt even come close to showing how we deal with trauma or disaster this was a waist of time
- An excellent collection...... of multiple kinds of disasters and analysis of various people's behavior in them. A lot of useful information emerges about what to do in different life or death situations. The question "why" (some people survive while others don't), however, still remains a mystery after finishing this book. Except for two attempts at explanation (1 -- bigger amygdala and 2 -- overinflated self-esteem of survivors) the book offers little insight into this critical issue. Understandably, this is still a largely unexplored ... Read More
- Meet Your Disaster PersonaJournalist Amanda Ripley takes us to ground zero of some of the worst disasters in recent history in a book that focuses on the response of the human brain.
The book is generally structured in stages of reaction that are reminiscent of the well-known stages of grieving that psychologists have used to describe the human psyche's reaction to the loss of a loved one.
In responding to disaster, Ripley organizes the human response into stages of denial, deliberation, and decision/action.
Read More
