Catastrophe!: How Psychology Explains Why Good People Make Bad Situations Worse

by Christopher J. Ferguson, Ginger White (Narrator)

What Happens To Our Minds During Pandemics, Natural Disasters, Terrorist Attacks, and Other Extreme Calamities? Whether natural or man-made, local or global, disasters impact our thinking and behavior on both a personal and societal level. Even rather ordinary crises in our personal lives like the loss of a job or the end of a relationship trigger overwhelming feelings. At the societal level, group anxieties coupled with the moral pressure to conform can send us all down the path to ruin. Why does this happen and, through understanding human psychology, how can we prevent this in the future? In this highly original and engagingly written book, Author Christopher J. Ferguson examines how pandemics, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other events of mass hysteria impact our psychology and prevent us from adequately responding to, preventing, or learning from those calamities. From the rush to hoard toilet paper during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, to the disconnect between procedure and practice surrounding massive wildfires, to debates about the science behind climate catastrophes, and shifts after traumatic events like 9/11 and the murder of George Floyd, The Psychology of Catastrophe uses in-depth case studies to reveal how moments of societal upheaval affect the psychology of citizens. Though we have often failed to predict, respond to, and learn from catastrophes, we have nonetheless made remarkable progress. Ferguson concludes by offering strategies to help us make better choices during crises in our own lives and providing solutions for how we as a society can better navigate misfortune in the future.

Genres: Nonfiction

Audiobook

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Samantha Chapnick · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. It looked interesting and is a premise I agree with. However, the approach the author took in the first few pages stuck me as so myopic and ignorant of the basics of the psychology of influence and persuasion (in terms of selling people on reading your book) and unsure of what tone to take with his audience (serious? ironic? cute? academic?) that I only made it to page 50.

First, starting with an airplane crash, unless the book is about airplane crashes, is just about as triggering as you can get. And not in a good, I can't wait to read on way. To many fearful fliers beginning a book with this sets them into a panic. Next, he basically argues for all intents and purposes the world is getting better and is better than it has ever been in the last few decades. Which considering we have lost 62% of all species, most of the land, have all waters filling up with micro plastics, and are likely not to have a livable planet soon, make the stats about decreased crime and health seem completely tone deaf.

I trudged onward hoping to see some light at the end of the tunnel, but again his writing is so poor and so myopic in every way it simple wasn't worth the continued agony.

[Anatl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catastrophe! should have been required reading. The book examines how cascades of mass panic can form on the basis of surprisingly thin real-world evidence, and how major international institutions lose credibility when their messaging is distorted by political pressure and unequal power dynamics between countries. When influence outweighs evidence, guidance becomes politicized - and therefore less effective.

The book also takes aim at cancel culture’s tendency to treat certain narratives as untouchable dogma, shutting down serious debate rather than strengthening it. This is especially dangerous in science, which is meant to be dispassionate, provisional, and data-driven.

Instead, we are increasingly presented with conclusions first and evidence second. The result is not greater trust, but widespread skepticism. Catastrophe! doesn’t argue against science, it argues for better science, and for institutions that can withstand disagreement without collapsing into moral panic.

[Frank Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never quite lives up to the byline, "How Psychology Explains Why Good People Make Bad Situations Worse".

Ferguson does make many good points, but seems too stuck on the political sphere and racism. Frustratingly he never goes more than skin deep with the latter, seemingly trying to straddle the fence between liberal and conservative viewpoints, painting himself (in my mind, at least) as the typical cishet privileged white male who doesn't really understand what underlies systemic racism and why. He seems overly focused on this topic, as he revisits it time and time again.

I'm not sure why Ferguson gave this book the byline he did. Most of the book is spent outlining scenarios, problems, and oversimplifications of issues. Little attention is ever given to exactly how anyone is making anything worse based on bad decisions. I'm quite disappointed by this; as a psychology student, I was hoping to learn more about the actual process of decision making in the presented scenarios.

If you're looking for a book which can help explain the why's of what happened, then this is a pretty decent one. But if you're looking for anything below the surface, you'll likely find more treasure by diving into a different book.

[Ricky Catto · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you wonder why we had the Toilet Paper Shortage in 2020, this is the book to read.

It's good. There is a bit of a weird thing where it tried to be personal but also detached, but worth a read.
The author tries very hard to be centrist.

[Alex M. Bendersky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average read