more on Question authority!

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Rahul Tongia <tongia () andrew cmu edu>
Date: June 10, 2005 9:54:54 AM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Question authority!


Dave,

While questioning authority appeals to the rebel in all of us, and  
may have been very useful in this particular case, is this not an  
argument for authorities to improve in what they instruct?  They need  
better technology, information, and innovation, instead of spewing  
conventional wisdom, if not old wives' tales.  Worse, what happens if  
disobeying authority works nicely for a single individual, but  
doesn't scale, backfires, or fails if everyone tries to do it?  This  
is exactly the game theoretic condition where standard responses and  
predictabilty can be useful.

However, if the authorities simply tell you to use a lot of duct tape...

Rahul

--On Friday, June 10, 2005 9:04 AM -0400 David Farber  
<dave () farber net> wrote:


> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: radev () umich edu
> Date: June 9, 2005 6:20:47 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: Re: Question authority!
> Reply-To: radev () umich edu
>
>
> Might be interesting for IP. Rather controversial too.
>
> Drago
>
>
>
> > http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.06/start.html?pg=3
> >
> > Question Authorities
> > Why it's smart to disobey officials in emergencies
> >
> > For nearly 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.
> >
> > 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.
> >
> > ...
>
>
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