Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to Escape a Sinking Ship

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 189 posts

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#71

Post by pfarrell »

flashgordon wrote: post #70

For some wierd reason I was thinking it would be about escaping a company that was in disarray!

Step 1: don’t burn bridges. Even in Silicon Valley, you are likely work with these people again.

Step 2: make sure you have contact info for the best and brightest and they have yours

Step 3: contact any recent people who left. They may be hiring at their new gig

Step 4: make sure you have submitted all your reimbursable expenses

Step 5: if the company starts to list, get to the high side, fast. (Couldn’t resist :)

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#72

Post by foerbert »

gfxgirl wrote: post #46
Schweigi wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a good book [1], which dives into why some people survive while others don't. One of the main takeaways is to break the rules if required. The other takeaway is to follow your instinct (like a child would). [1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VVMN5J2

Follow your instinct like a child would? Every child I know would just freeze and cry for mom.

I don't think they mean to try to anticipate the instincts of a child and act accordingly, but rather that children will be more likely to just do whatever seems right to them, rather than paying so much attention to social conventions and normal-situation rules.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#73

Post by echelon »

mauvehaus wrote: post #22

The Atlantic'a piece about the sinking of the ferry Estonia contains some interesting pieces of information for anybody who might like to survive a sinking in the future. It might also put you off getting on ships. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/05/a-sea-s...

I love vivid, harrowing writing like this.

Despite seeing James Cameron's Titanic, I never pictured the ships themselves as being such an obstacle to survival.

This makes it feel so real. It's haunting.

Do you have anything more like this?

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#74

Post by dheera »

gfxgirl wrote: post #46
Schweigi wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a good book [1], which dives into why some people survive while others don't. One of the main takeaways is to break the rules if required. The other takeaway is to follow your instinct (like a child would). [1]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VVMN5J2

Follow your instinct like a child would? Every child I know would just freeze and cry for mom.

More like follow your instinct like a cat would.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#75

Post by TheCoelacanth »

zapdrive wrote: post #27
cmdshiftf4 wrote: post #10

Step 1. Don't be a man Step 2. Don't be poor. 97% of First Class women and 87% of female crew members survived the sinking of the Titanic. https://www.anesi.com/titanic.htm

Ooooh yes, the female privilege that feminists never talk about.

Yes, in that one specific shipwreck, you were better off being female. Almost every other shipwreck went the other way[1].

[1] https://www.history.com/news/women-and-children-first-on-sin...

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#76

Post by smogcutter »

orev wrote: post #69
smogcutter wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. I learned this lesson on 9/11, as a high school student in lower Manhattan. We were told to sit in our homerooms and wait, while smoke (and god knows what else) enveloped the building. Eventually we were shuffled out of the building and told to keep going nor…

In a situation like that, you only have a choice between really bad options. If everyone ran for the door, people would likely have been hurt or killed due to trampling. If everyone panics, you are guaranteed to have a bad outcome. In your case, staying in place might have allowed the dust to (literally) settle by the time you left the building. Obviously the people in the 2nd tower had a different outcome.

Like I said, I understand why they did what they did. That doesn’t make it the right call. The point is that they didn’t know what to do, so they defaulted to doing nothing.

> In your case, staying in place might have allowed the dust to (literally) settle by the time you left the building.

It didn’t.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#77

Post by TheCoelacanth »

bra-ket wrote: post #8

clickbait title, the author only describes how to escape Titanic in 1912 if you happen to have a time machine and a cheap ticket to lower deck. This advice doesn't generalize well.

God forbid that a title be evocative instead of a 100% literal description of the contents.

It's not like title is "11 surprising ways to escape a sinking ship" or "10 things you need to do if you're stuck on a sinking ship" or "You won't believe how this man escaped from a sinking ship".

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#78

Post by jschwartzi »

vmh1928 wrote: post #52

Too bad the author didn't discuss how to make a raft from deck chairs. Always bring 50' of para cord and a compliant knife. Perhaps a discussion of what sort of non-obvious cutting instrument would be good to bring. Nail clippers? A plastic knife with a ceramic edge? Like one of these: https://www.osograndeknives.com/catalog/fixed-blade-non-dete...

I would add a marine survival/immersion suit to the list as well.

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#79

Post by tdeck »

smogcutter wrote: post #65
secabeen wrote: post #13

Somewhat tongue in cheek, but still some good advice here: -- Know your surroundings, specifically where your exits are. The nearest exit may be behind you. -- Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. -- Be where the well-connected people are, and look/act the part. Try to blend into the tribe, be a…

>Break the rules. Officials may try to deter you from using passages, ladders or stairwells. Ignore them. If you need to kick open a door or pick a lock, do it. I learned this lesson on 9/11, as a high school student in lower Manhattan. We were told to sit in our homerooms and wait, while smoke (and god knows what else) enveloped the building. Eventually we were shuffled out of the building and told to keep going nor…

As an extreme example I'm reminded of this south korean ferry disaster where 304 passengers died:

> As Sewol began sinking, the ferry's intercom system started ordering the passengers to stay put, alleging that moving was dangerous. The announcements were made by a communication officer, Kang Hae-seong, who had not consulted the manual before the broadcast. The announcements began broadcasting by at least 8:52 a.m. and continued even when water began flooding passenger compartments. Other crew members corroborated this order, instructing passengers to stay put. Captain Lee also instructed passengers to stay put and did not change the order even as he was leaving the ship.

> The first emergency call was made by Choi Duk-ha, a Danwon High School student aboard the ferry. At 8:52 a.m., he called the national emergency service number and reported to the Jeollanam-do fire station that Sewol was capsizing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Sewol?wprov=sfla...

Re: How to Escape a Sinking Ship

#80

Post by tdeck »

s5300 wrote: post #33
Spooky23 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats bad for the whole might be better for you. People in the WTC were told to chill out, no worries, all is well. Screw that — if something hits the fan, I will gtfo.

I was in the Ritz-Carlson in DTLA last year for Anime expo. Waiting on the third floor for a convention with atleast 200 people just in that one smaller area, all of the sudden, a live voice came over the intercom with instructions to immediately evacuate the building, all but essential staff. In my mind it seemed as serious as if there was an active shooter somewhere. I was literally the only person in the group to…

Once I was in the Newark Airport (never again, hopefully) when the fire alarm started going off. As I looked for an exit I noticed nobody was doing anything, and it continued to go off with at high volume with no announcement and no guidance from anyone for a full 20 minutes. I ended up staying because I didn't know what to do and didn't want to miss my flight.
Post reply on HN