It's Not Cool to Overreact
Normalcy bias helps explain why the public continues to chill in the face of mounting existential threats.
We think people panic during a crisis.
Actually, most do the opposite.
In 1977, two planes collided above a runway on the island of Tenerife. A handful of passengers climbed out of the ruptured hull. Everyone else burned. It wasn’t because they were injured. They were all wide awake. They just couldn’t get moving.
They didn’t want to panic.
There’s a similar story about the 9/11 attacks. One woman remembers being rocked out of her chair by the first explosion. At first, she was going to sit back down and wait to see what everyone else did. She even admits, "What I really wanted was for someone to scream back, 'Everything is O.K.! Don't worry. It's in your head.’” Fortunately, someone yelled, “Get out!”
Even then, she didn’t leave. She spent several minutes walking around in circles, gathering up her purse and a handful of books.
Psychologists have a name for this behavior:
It’s called normalcy bias.
It can be fatal.
Amanda Ripley theorizes normalcy bias in Unthinkable: Who Survives Whe…