The
great blizzard of 2015 came in like a lion and went out like a lamb shorn of
her woolly fleece; embarrassed and disappointing to look at. However, in the day
leading up to what was hyped up to be the storm of the century, our daily routines came to a screeching halt; halfway through “The Price is Right” television
viewers were subjected to panicked news reporters urging people to stay off the
roads, make sure they had enough supplies to last them days indoors, call their
loved ones and let them know how much they mean to them. At 4pm, CBS decided
that the 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock news hours were simply not enough to discuss
this snow storm, and instead of airing Judge Judy (as I had been looking
forward to all day), spent an extra hour repeating what has already been said.
Al Roker created “Rokerthon” in which he spent HOURS ON END narrating what was
happening outside our windows. The Onion, always on point with pop culture
satire, accurately captured the ridiculousness of our dooms day predictions by
publishing the article, “NYC Mayor: ‘Reconcile Yourselves with Your God, ForAll Will Perish in the Tempest.’” I’ll admit it, I bought into the hype a
little bit. I stocked up on junk food, I built a tent out of sheets in my room,
I took a quiz on Buzzfeed titled “What you should watch on Netflix during the
Blizzard.” But it was all tongue in cheek for me, recognizing that there was no
real need to panic. However, that was not the case for many who spent the day holed up inside watching their televisions for minute by minute updates. Now, the morning after, many people are filled with
disappointed sentiments, wondering what the heck happened and whether or not it was important for DeBlasio to put on his Chris Christie fleece and address his constituents, particularly during Judge Judy.
"Worst. Blizzard. Ever."
Psychologists have gained insight into the phenomenon of information seeking behavior and peoples' reactions in the face of threat. Interestingly enough, psychologists (See Carey, 2014, Lane, 2009, and Rock, 2009) have found that public hysteria catches like wildfire, even
in the absence of a genuine threat. Explained through the Ebola scare of 2014,
Carey noted that risks are often judged by both reasoning as well as emotional responses. Emotion can often overtake reasoning, especially
if the emotions are stoked by repeated images of previous natural disasters and news anchors repeating warnings nonstop. If people
feel threatened, they will act accordingly, despite evidence that there is no
real threat. In order to quell this mounting fear, people
need to feel that they can trust those supplying information.
Let’s
return to my disappointment in not being able to watch the sassy rulings of
Judge Judy. Lane and Rock addresses this repetition
of information as a form of quenching the basic human need for information. Both
psychologists assert through their research that there is a biological desire for knowledge and information on
a neural level, driven by a need for certainty. When people receive this information,
there is a reward. When people feel rewarded for watching Countdown to Snowpacolypse
on the news, they are more likely they are to stay tuned, and the higher that
news stations’ ratings, and thus the constant barrage of snow updates and risk management plans throughout the day.We manage threats by making predictions, because making predictions
makes us feel better about an uncertain future.
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