The Impossible Just Happened.wmv

WWW.BEYONDNUCLEAR.ORG/home/2011/3/12/map-of-potential-fallout-from-fukushima.htm­l

The normalcy 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 of the government 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 that 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.

Possible causes

The normalcy bias may be caused in part by the way the brain processes new data. Research suggests that even when the brain is calm, it takes 8--10 seconds to process new information. Stress slows the process, and when the brain cannot find an acceptable response to a situation, it fixates on a single solution that may or may not be correct. An evolutionary reason for this response could be that paralysis gives an animal a better chance of surviving an attack; predators are less likely to eat prey that isn't struggling.

Effects

The normalcy bias often results in unnecessary deaths in disaster situations. The lack of preparation for disasters often leads to inadequate shelter, supplies, and evacuation plans. Even when all these things are in place, individuals with a normalcy bias often refuse to leave their homes. Studies have shown that more than 70% of people check with others before deciding to evacuate.[2]
The normalcy bias also causes people to drastically underestimate the effects of the disaster. Therefore, they think that everything will be all right, while information from the radio, television, or neighbors gives them reason to believe there is a risk. This creates a cognitive dissonance that they then must work to eliminate. Some manage to eliminate it by refusing to believe new warnings coming in and refusing to evacuate (maintaining the normalcy bias), while others eliminate the dissonance by escaping the danger. The possibility that some may refuse to evacuate causes significant problems in disaster planning.[3]

Examples

Little Sioux Scout camp in June 2008. Despite being in the middle of "Tornado Alley," the campground had no tornado shelter to offer protection from a strong tornado.[4]
New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. Inadequate government preparation and the denial that the levees could fail were an example of the normalcy bias, as was the thousands of people who refused to evacuate.

Prevention

This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010)
The negative effects can be combated through the four stages of disaster response:
preparation, including publicly acknowledging the possibility of disaster and forming contingency plans
warning, including issuing clear, unambiguous, and frequent warnings and helping the public to understand and believe them
impact, the stage at which the contingency plans take effect and emergency services, rescue teams, and disaster relief teams work in tandem
aftermath, or reestablishing equilibrium after the fact by providing supplies and aid to those in need

as taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias

Category:

Education

Tags:

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[jsmccarty82]

EVERYONE THAT DISLIKES THIS VIDEO ARE JUST ADMITTING THAT I'M RIGHT! I believe it or not its true and there's nothing you nor I or anyone els for that fact can change it.

[thesupermyst]

Bam

[jsmccarty82]

@thesupermyst Thanks!

[KevinRocksEggs]

Haha This Guys A Dumbass! Haha What Dumb Fuck

[iamufreak]

It cant be the Australian Government else they would have the .gov marker.

Anyway, yeah, the fallout page has been removed... That is odd

[systemfx]

@jsmccarty82 Yes of course. I'm not sure what one would do in such a case.

I have been trying to do some reading on it.

I myself am located though in Toronto , Ontario.

I just really find it hard to believe how much some people are like sheep and will just believe anything the goverment says even if its truth or not.

This map was posted I have seen the remains of the blog posting on the site.

[jsmccarty82]

@systemfx Well, Never the Less at Least its Fair warning.