[ExI] Avoiding bad black swan events

[Dan]

On Thursday, December 13, 2012 5:44 PM Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se> wrote:
> The big problem with any strategy like this is that the best way of surviving
> a big disaster is to have a close-knit social network that works together to
> help members survive: economies of scale apply. In fact, the bigger the
> network the better. So going at it alone is likely not going to cut it. Getting
> to know your neighbors and local government might.

I agree and the point has been noted by many survivalists. One book, a few years back (in the mid-2000s, IIRC) mentioned one survival strategy in particular was getting training as and networking with first responders. This, naturally, comes with a cost, but getting the training (often free to the trainee) obviously has a direct benefit, but also networking with them keeps one in the local loop (which probably matters in many likely disaster situations -- as opposed to being glued to some major media outlet*) in many different.

Regards,

Dan

* In fact, my guess is being up to date on news is really more harmful than good. Most of it is entertainment. As entertainment, it might be fun, but for those who confuse it with being information rich, I think they're going to spend too much time and effort trying to filter lots of noise for a miniscule signal.
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