#610: Who Lives in Survival Situations, Who Dies, and Why

#610: Who Lives in Survival Situations, Who Dies, and Why

In disasters or accidents, why do some people survive and others perish? In exploring this question, my guest has uncovered psychological and philosophical insights into not only dealing with life-threatening crises, but strategically navigating any situation that involves risk and decision-making.

His name is Laurence Gonzales and he's a pilot, a journalist, and the author of several books, including the focus of today's conversation: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. Today on the show, we discuss how the story of his father being shot out of the sky during WWII set Laurence on a journey to explore the mysterious underpinnings of survival. Laurence then explains what happens to us mentally and emotionally in a disaster situation that causes us to make poor decisions, how our mental models can get us in trouble, and why rule breakers are more likely to survive than rule followers. Laurence then walks us through complexity theory and how trying to make things safer can counterintuitively make them more dangerous. We then talk about why the frequency with which you yell at your kids correlates to your chances of surviving a life-threatening emergency, before ending our conversation with a discussion of the paradoxes would-be survivors must grapple with, including being both realistic and hopeful at the same time.

Get the show notes at aom.is/deepsurvival.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Episoder(1159)

Unlock Better Sleep and Health by Harnessing Your Circadian Rhythm

Unlock Better Sleep and Health by Harnessing Your Circadian Rhythm

You probably know your body follows a circadian rhythm, and probably think of it as primarily regulating your sleep/wake cycle, which it certainly does. But your body's internal clock also regulates m...

21 Aug 202453min

Boots, Tents, Sleeping Bags, and More: How to Choose and Use Outdoor Gear

Boots, Tents, Sleeping Bags, and More: How to Choose and Use Outdoor Gear

A fair amount of gear is involved in making a camping or backpacking trip a success, and choosing that gear can be a little intimidating as there are lots of options, and it's expensive to boot.Here t...

19 Aug 202448min

The Habits of Highly Effective Risk-Takers

The Habits of Highly Effective Risk-Takers

You may know Nate Silver as an election forecaster. But he’s a poker player as well. And his experiences operating in a world of competition and risk led him to explore what his fellow gamblers, as we...

14 Aug 202443min

Practicing Spiritual Disciplines as an Act of Resistance

Practicing Spiritual Disciplines as an Act of Resistance

To train the body, strengthening its muscles, increasing its cardiovascular health, and improving its agility, you need to do exercises like stretching, running, and lifting weights.To train the soul,...

12 Aug 202458min

The Science of Motivating Your Kids (And Any Young Adult)

The Science of Motivating Your Kids (And Any Young Adult)

If you’re a parent, teacher, coach, or manager who lives, loves, and works with tweens, teens, and 20s-somethings, you know that young people sometimes act in seemingly head-scratching ways, that you ...

7 Aug 202451min

Lose Weight and Keep It Off With Flexible Dieting

Lose Weight and Keep It Off With Flexible Dieting

When many people try to lose weight, they choose a specific, cookie-cutter diet that claims to be the one true way to shed pounds. My guest says that approach is bound to backfire, and that there's a ...

5 Aug 202448min

How to Resist Group Anxiety and Become a Differentiated Self

How to Resist Group Anxiety and Become a Differentiated Self

When we think about anxiety, we typically think of something that is generated and felt within an individual. But Murray Bowen, a psychiatrist of the mid-20th century, argued that anxiety was also cre...

31 Jul 202455min

The Vital Skills We’re Losing to Technology (And How to Reclaim Them)

The Vital Skills We’re Losing to Technology (And How to Reclaim Them)

Do moments where you run up against your dependence on modern technology get you wondering about the ways some of your personal capabilities seem to be atrophying?Graham Lee has spent years thinking a...

29 Jul 202449min

Populært innen Fakta

fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
mikkels-paskenotter
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
treningspodden
foreldreradet
jakt-og-fiskepodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
rss-bisarr-historie
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
rss-kull
gravid-uke-for-uke
hagespiren-podcast
sinnsyn
level-up-med-anniken-binz
rss-kunsten-a-leve
rss-bak-luftfarten
hverdagspsyken
takk-og-lov-med-anine-kierulf
fryktlos