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Old 07-24-2009, 09:44 PM
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Targan Targan is offline
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I am currently reading "The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes and Why" by Amanda Ripley, published by Arrow Books. It is very interesting. The book's subject is pretty well explained by its title. The author has conducted hundreds of interviews with accident, combat and disaster survivors from all over the world and has also used dozens of academic papers in her research.

Reading this book has given me food for thought in a number of areas related to T2K but especially about Coolness Under Fire, Initiative, leadership and panic. In one chapter there is some very interesting information about how the structure of some peoples' brains make them more susceptible to suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It seems that people who have a larger than average hippocampus are much more resistant to PTSD. There is also some interesting stuff about the differences in brain chemistry between your average soldier and special forces-type personnel, and hundreds of examples of accidents, combats and disasters and how those interviewed dealt with them.

In keeping with the rating system introduced in the Fiction Books thread I rate this one 4.5 out of 5 mushroom clouds.
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