The funny thing about disasters is that they tend to bring out the best in people. Read Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell for a good survey of the phenomenon. Elites tend to panic and get the rest of us killed during a crisis while we the people are unfucking things cooperatively.
It’s a great book. I listened to the audiobook from the library.
I was introduced to the concept from the Behind the Bastards episode “Elite Panic” which is a great introduction to the topic and my favorite BtB episode of all time.
No shit? All time? That’s quite the compliment! I don’t recall if I’ve listened to that one, I have most of them, but I’ll have to go back and check. If I haven’t listened, I’ll queue it up!
That might be a bit hyperbolic. It is a really good one but the adventure park one is the best episode based on how funny it is. And the little Nazis one is probably better in terms of content. But it is a really good single episode that I recommend to people that is eye opening.
Evolutionary speaking, it makes sense to compete within your own species when times are good, cause there is no threat to the survival of the entire group.
Conversely, when times are bad and the entire species is threatened, it’s best to cooperate as much as possible instead of compete.