pushy Americans on the Titanic

Interesting analysis on msnbc.com today about how Americans on board the Titanic saved themselves by pushing to get onto lifeboats first while the Brits on board queued up for a place on lifeboats. According to the report, Americans had a 12 percent better probability of survival than British subjects.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28857579/

This is a very interesting article. The statistics provide a lot of insight into that particular disaster.

However, given these statistics and the supporting evidence offered in the article, is it better (for the individual) to panic and trample others than to proceed calmly in a disaster?

When you look at fire disasters in particular, it is clear that individuals are often more likely to survive if they can remain calm--but that's only if the great majority of people stay calm. If enough people panic that they block the exits, then the more calm members of the crowd will potentially die sitting in their chairs (as in the Cocoanut Grove or the Iroquois Theater). Fire drills in schools today show clearly though how a calm and controlled evacuation can eliminate deaths in a dangerous situation. Schools rarely have fires in the modern day, but in the occasional situation where there is a fire, well practiced drills make the difference between saving everyone in the building and having a horrible result such as happened at Our Lady of the Angels school.

I'd be very interested in seeing similar statistical studies of fire disasters as well as other shipwrecks.

Thanks for bringing this article to our attention, Linda!

It's interesting that was found on MSNBC. I recently read an article on the exact same subject from BBC. Naturally, it spoke about how the British fancied themselves more as gentlemen, and allowed women and children the lifeboats.

I suppose Margaret Tobin Brown (referenced as "the unsinkable Molly" Brown, although she never actually used that name) would be one of those pushy survivors. Certainly anyone traveling in third class had to be extremely pushy if they wanted any chance at all.

Amanda Ripley's book, The Unthinkable - Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why covers response under a variety of crisis conditions. Ripley maintains that the survivors are those who get up and DO SOMETHING. Contrary to common belief, her research shows that too many people remain passive and delay taking action, under conditions where a few moments can mean the difference between life and death.

After we started this thread I realized that although I had bought The Unthinkable last year I hadn't read it yet. I've started on it now.

Since the majority of the Americans were true Yankees, i.e. New Englanders, I wonder if they had been southerners whether they would have been as courteous as the Brits and all drowned.

>6 varielle: LOL!

John Jacob Astor IV famously perished on the Titanic, after helping his pregnant second wife into a lifeboat.

And what about Isidor and Ida Straus? They were the owners of the Macy's department store chain. Mrs. Straus was 63 years old and her husband was 67. Ship officers tried to allow both of them to board Lifeboat No. 8, but Isidor refused to board until all women on the ship had been saved. Ida refused to leave without him, and the couple were last seen sitting together quietly on deck chairs on Titanic's boat deck.

While looking for info on the Astors and the Strauses, I stumbled into some interesting websites:
Encyclopaedia Britannica - Titanic exhibit
Encyclopedia Titanica
Titanic Facts
Titanic-Titanic.com