The Myth of Panic

[Lilias]

Putting it here in order not to have it buried in the pandemic discussion thread: a long, excellent read on crowd psychology in disaster situations.

https://palladiummag.com/2021/07/15/the-myth-of-panic

[BlueOrange]

Damn that’s good.

It’s interesting to note that Australia and New Zealand have very egalitarian cultures, and that Jacinda  Ardern (easily the most successful national leader during coronavirus) markets herself as a very ordinary mother. These observations would seem to support an idea in the article: that it’s leaders who espouse the idea that they are special individuals who are most susceptible to elite panic.

[Azy]

Well, we've certainly seen what panic can do, haven't we?  Just rumors of possible lockdowns made it so I had to get up at 6:30 in the morning to get to Walmart when it opened at 7 just to get some toilet paper.  That was absolutely insane!  It was very weird and extremely frustrating to walk into stores and see entire sections just completely empty due to panic buying.  And contrary to what officials originally thought, the panic was brought on by rumors and uncertainty.  Once the people in charge started being more clear about what was going on, most reasonable calmed down and did as asked.  You can't tell the public they need to do something, and not tell them why.  We've also seen how easy it is to sew mistrust of authority.  Not enough information leads to speculation, which leads to conspiracy theories.  Facebook has now practically become an insane asylum. 

[Tolvo]

This reminds me of This War of Mine, the game about survival during a war in a ravaged country as you and others around you compete for resources. And how people who survived the actual war the game is based on found it very compelling and respectful but that this aspect was wrong, and that when the bombs dropped nearly everyone unified and took care of each other and that is why they survived.