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Loading... The Ostrich Paradox: Why We Underprepare for Disastersby Robert Meyer
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"The Ostrich Paradox boldly addresses a key question of our time: Why are we humans so poor at dealing with disastrous risks, and what can we humans do about it? It is a must-read for everyone who cares about risk." --Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow We fail to evacuate when advised. We rebuild in flood zones. We don't wear helmets. We fail to purchase insurance. We would rather avoid the risk of "crying wolf" than sound an alarm. Our ability to foresee and protect against natural catastrophes has never been greater; yet, we consistently fail to heed the warnings and protect ourselves and our communities, with devastating consequences. What explains this contradiction? In The Ostrich Paradox, Wharton professors Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther draw on years of teaching and research to explain why disaster preparedness efforts consistently fall short. Filled with heartbreaking stories of loss and resilience, the book addresses: How people make decisions when confronted with high-consequence, low-probability events--and how these decisions can go awry The 6 biases that lead individuals, communities, and institutions to make grave errors that cost lives The Behavioral Risk Audit, a systematic approach for improving preparedness by recognizing these biases and designing strategies that anticipate them Why, if we are to be better prepared for disasters, we need to learn to be more like ostriches, not less Fast-reading and critically important, The Ostrich Paradox is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why we consistently underprepare for disasters, as well as private and public leaders, planners, and policy-makers who want to build more prepared communities. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)302.35Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Social Interaction Social interaction within groups Social interaction in complex groupsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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I liked it because it didn't go too in-depth about the causes of the biases: no long lectures on neurobiology. There's just enough information, and it's illustrated by factual stories. On the other hand, I didn't give it five stars because I think the authors could have gone into a bit more detail about how individuals can manage and mitigate the biases.
This is a book to keep and review on a regular basis to help keep one's own evaluation process balanced, especially if you are concerned about emergency preparations but find it difficult to actually invest in them and/or take action.
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