Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Zombie Drills
Sorry this is a few hours late, wireless hasn't been working all day. Anyways, I read yesterday that Lander University was having a Zombie Apocolypse drill. My first reaction was, "Why on earth would you have a drill for something that doesn't exist?" But then, I started to think about it and realized it actually made a lot of sense. Typically, when there is a drill for a real potential disaster, i.e. fire, hurricane, tornado, people don't get very excited and it is very routine. But when there is a Zombie drill, people get more into it because the word Zombie, which has become so popular in pop culture is attached to it, and it adds an element of fun. I read some more on the drill and it turns out their nursing students are going to get involved with it, and the campus police are going to help. So, while it is not a real concern, it can potentially prepare people for a real one, and because it has an element of fun involved people will remember procedures better. It is the same thing when adding a little bit of fun to any mundane task makes it more enjoyable. For example, when you are doing a basic chore turning it into some kind of game. In conclusion, props to the people putting on the Zombie apocalypse.
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This reminds me of an argument that Paul Krugman uses a lot for government spending. He basically says, it was the stimulus from World War II that got us out of the Great Depression, so what we need now is not a real war, but some sort of fake war that will make the government spend a lot of money. I think this is basically the same principle as the one you outline: sometimes we just need something else to get us interested. Actually, this is the same principle as Adam Smith discusses in the section on the invisible hand: people are actually attracted to the big picture ideas, so it is important to come up with ways to create those types of narratives.
ReplyDeleteI know the CDC has done a similar exercise in the past with the primary goal to show people that the really should have an emergency kit because you never know what will happen. I think its a good idea because it lets people have fun with preparation.
ReplyDeleteThis makes sense and is very reasonable. It is a fun way to be safe and be prepared for anything.
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