The Current
Don’t be scared, be prepared.
For the past several years, especially around the election season, I’ve noticed an uptick in the circulation of materials and advertising for items regarding emergency preparedness. The optimist in me would like to believe that this uptick is a result of several factors: companies have genuine concern for their customers, temperatures are decreasing as winter approaches, and the usage of fireplaces, petroleum fueled heaters, and overfilled turkey fryers is increasing. Pairing any of the aforementioned factors with the reality that Ray and Nephew will inevitably show up and somehow find a way to make this year’s egg nog the strongest it’s ever been, adds to the catalog of stories we get to tell in the future but it also increases the risk of an emergency occurring – even if it’s just a minor cut from a dropped glass. The realist in me believes that the barrage of emergency preparedness is rooted in fear mongering and large businesses trying to make a sale. I’m finding the realist side of myself to be correct more than the optimist in many of these instances.
I recently saw a piece of media claiming to promote “emergency preparedness” that described a hypothetical situation in which a sustained power outage occurs. It went on to describe in some detail what (mostly nefarious) human behaviors would become prominent, with projected timelines, all as a result of the hypothetical sustained and sudden power outages. The piece concluded with no citation of proof, no advice, no case studies, and didn’t state any trustworthy credentials of the speaker. Now this could have very well been an AI generated script (and in hindsight, it likely was), but what’s the point of explaining “what would happen if….” when there’s no explanation on how to prevent said situation from occuring? I don’t think that teaches anything but fear – fear founded on ignorance, because often the discussion of alternate solutions to problems and the consideration of case based scenarios are left out, or purposefully omitted from the conversation. I think I witness more things like this during the election season because this time of year is uneasy for a lot of people. The holidays are approaching, political shifts are at stake, the days are shorter, and for many people these sudden changes and/or uncertainty can have significant effects on their mood and behavior. I’m here to ask that we think critically about the messages being broadcasted to us – be mindful to check our own biases, read books, and talk with other people about things that you see and witness. We have to do our best to stay grounded in reality and filter out bullshit with a fine mesh sieve. Your favorite AI chatbot can’t always do that for you (Zhao 558). If something sounds or looks inexplicably odd, too good to be true, or is trying to lead you to some ultimate understanding of reality and “unquestionable” truth, question it and verify it with multiple objective, reliable sources before adopting another person’s opinion.
Back to emergencies. Here’s the holiday PSA on emergenciesI’d like to share, and I guess it’s the one I would have rather seen. Emergencies will happen, but when they do, try not to panic, just try to put some work in before they happen to plan it. Being prepared for emergencies is a good way to practice a form of self reliance and it can be good to objectively (but not obsessively) think through a hypothetical situation that has some nonzero chance of occurrence in order to help oneself be prepared. It’s beneficial to prepare for the things that are more probable to occur. For example, I think it’s more likely that I may scald my hand steaming milk than it is that my car would break down 50 miles from home and I’d lose cell service as the result of an electromagnetic pulse from the sun, so I should probably make arrangements to remedy the former situation before the latter. Preparedness can also prevent calls to emergency services like ambulances, firefighters, and police. I don’t want to give recommendations on what anyone should have or get because emergency preparedness looks different for folk’s personal situations and scarcity tolerance, but I think of these four things for a basic approach to emergency preparedness: skills, safety, satiety, sanity. An emergency is something that is not always life threatening, but does require immediate action, and generally can’t or shouldn’t be ignored. If one has a broad skillset that includes rational critical thinking skills, it's a great place to start. Ensuring that you and your family are safe and cared for is also important – this means making efforts to remain warm/ cool, sheltered, dry, sanitary, and avoiding or tending physical or mental ailments, to the best of one’s ability. Being able to stay satiated is also important – I would also include hydration here. The last one is literally staying sane, it’s always nice to have something good for morale in an emergency situation; it could be a pack of cards, a bag of sweets, a kid’s favorite toy, or a downloaded movie on a tablet - they make a difference! So remember to check the expiry date on your fire extinguishers, and if you hear ceiling birds it’s time to swap the smoke alarm batteries.
Bibliography
Zhao, Celina. "AI hallucinates because it's trained to fake it till it makes it." Science, vol. 390, no. 6773, 2025, pp. 558–559. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aed6538.
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