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"Rational disobedience" saved lives at the WTC
by Gary Wolf, WiredEFL'd a little bit. For more than four years - steadily, seriously, and with the unsentimental rigor for which we love them - civil engineers have been studying the destruction of the World Trade Center towers, sifting the tragedy for its lessons. And it turns out that one of the lessons is: Disobey authority. In a connected world, ordinary people often have access to better information than officials do. In most situations, decisions should be made at the lowest possible level, by persons close to the situation. In some contexts, it's called "federalism" or "subsidiarity." Proof can be found in the 298-page draft report issued in April by the National Institute on Standards and Technology called Occupant Behavior, Egress, and Emergency Communications. (In layman's terms, that's who got out of the buildings, how they got out, and why.) It's an eloquent document, in many ways. The report confirms a chilling fact that was widely covered in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. After both buildings were burning, many calls to 911 resulted in advice to stay put and wait for rescue. Also, occupants of the towers had been trained to use the stairs, not the elevators, in case of evacuation. Fortunately, this advice was mostly ignored. According to the engineers, use of elevators in the early phase of the evacuation, along with the decision to not stay put, saved roughly 2,500 lives. This disobedience had nothing to do with panic. For example, Rick Rescorla, who made the decision to evacuate his company's offices in WTC 2, and got nearly everyone out. The report documents how evacuees stopped to help the injured and assist the mobility-impaired, even to give emotional comfort. And don't forget those like the Red Bandanna Man, who stayed behind to help others get out. Not panic but what disaster experts call reasoned flight ruled the day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the movie cliche of the unreasoned mob fleeing in panic doesn't seem to apply in real life. It didn't at the WTC, or the Pentagon, or in the northeast blackout. In fact, the people inside the towers were better informed and far more knowledgeable than emergency operators far from the scene. While walking down the stairs, they answered their cell phones and glanced at their BlackBerries, learning from friends that there had been a terrorist attack and that the Pentagon had also been hit. News of what was happening passed by word of mouth, and fellow workers pressed hesitating colleagues to continue their exit. Interesting question: is this an American cultural thing, a product of the individual self-reliance we pride ourselves on? In more collectivized cultures, or in totalitarian states, would we see a different response? Discuss. Posted by: Mike 2005-05-26 |
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