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| "Rational disobedience" saved lives at the WTC |
| 2005-05-26 |
| by Gary Wolf, Wired EFL'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 |
| #7 And to answer your question, yes, some of it was shot in the States. We have a lot of movies shoot scenes around the Richmond/Petersburg area. We've got both new and centuries-old buildings around here, city scapes and old-fashioned-looking small town looks (Ashland), the James River, etc. Lots to work with. This time, Richmond stood in for D.C. There was an empty building near downtown (not quite finished, IIRC) with a parking lot next door - they used it for the new D.C. children's hospital the "first lady" was dedicating when Bruce Willis started "shooting" at her & Sydney Poitier ran across the stage and tackled her to protect her. The scene where Bruce Willis' van was blown up was filmed not downtown but up at Chimborazo Park on Church Hill - it was a nine days' wonder, very cool. Nobody ever saw Richard Gere, except when he was acting, though I read that he had great dining experiences at the 5-star Jefferson Hotel. I didn't see Bruce Willis, though I read he was polite and relatively accessable. Sydney Poitier, though - when he came through the crowd (of extras) to take his place at the side of the stage when they were ready to shoot the scene, everybody spontaneously stood up and applauded him. He seemed a little surprised, but he was very nice and smiled and waved at everyone. A real gentleman. I had done some stage work many years ago, but no TV or movie work, so I wasn't prepared for how BORING the whole thing was. And I don't do boredom well. Live and learn. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-05-27 00:13 |
| #6 You can call me "Babe" anytime, .com. Well, almost anytime.... ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-05-26 23:57 |
| #5 unsentimental rigor? Civil Engineers? Alaska Paul and I are pussy cats! I cry every time Jeremiah Johnson finds his family dead (probably 15 times watched to date, and now I have the DVD!). Call us tough assholes, but ones you'd like to have on your side for the right reasons |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-26 22:55 |
| #4 Was that scene in the US, then? They make so many of them in Canada (Montreal is tops with the HW dinks, I've read) that it makes it unusual. I read a guy's description once on the making of a Bay Watch episode that was exactly as you described it - lots of sitting around, endless waiting for that 2-30 seconds when they were to do some milling around or similar shit, lol! Since it was Bay Watch, all the HS teen queens who had never scratched that itch mobbed the casting call. The guy who wrote the bit said there were barely enough men to fill the needed slots - so he and almost all the others were selected. Malibu Pier, milling around. Some measly flat $ day rate, bad & insufficient food, Kool Aid, boredom. Sounded like a day wasted - and that was his conclusion, though he said it was pretty funny to see himself onscreen for 3-4 seconds. BTW, I only called you "babe" to see if I'd get the Barb Wire treatment, lol! It's so "Hollywood" doncha think? Lol! Good on ya - you know much more than those frustrated teen queens - regardless of their gender, lol! |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-26 22:46 |
| #3 LOL, .com. That was one of the most boring jobs (and I use the term loosely) I've ever done. A great deal of sitting around doing nothing. On folding chairs. Outdoors. On a cloudless day. For more than one day. I can't believe people do that for a living. If you're ever watching the movie and see a (ahem) queen-sized middle-aged woman in a white linen jacket in the crowd at the "hospital" dedication running toward the cops, that's me. Luckily, I think I'm on the cutting room floor. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-05-26 22:33 |
| #2 Barbara, I'd have given you lines, babe. "Rewrite!" Everything's different in Hollyweird, heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-05-26 21:49 |
#1 the movie cliche of the unreasoned mob fleeing in panic doesn't seem to apply in real lifeI don't think it does in most circumstances, either. I got roped into being an extra (for lack of a better term) in the crowd scene near the end of The Jackel. When the "shooting" started, we were instructed to run in all directions, and they had other extras in police uniforms actually waving at us to go back toward where we had just left (i.e., where the bullets were landing). I did as I was told, since it was just a movie. But having been in terrorist attack and sniper situations, I can tell you the way they had us behave would be the last thing I would have done in real life. Someone's shooting at you - particularly with an automatic weapon? Hit the deck, preferably behind something solid and thick, and stay down. That's a normal response, I think. Running around like a chicken with its head cut off is not, for most people. Except, apparently, in Hollywood. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2005-05-26 17:23 |