Annie
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Interesting article, makes sense when you consider instinctive 'fight or flight' reaction. With time, adrenaline goes down and brain kicks in:
Women and children first? How long have you got? - life - 01 March 2010 - New Scientist
Women and children first? How long have you got? - life - 01 March 2010 - New Scientist
Women and children first? How long have you got?
20:00 01 March 2010 by Andy Coghlan
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Still time for chivalrous behaviour (Image: 20th Century Fox/Everett/Rex Features)
If the ship is sinking, do you save yourself or risk your life to save others? The answer, it seems, depends on how long the sinking takes. If there's enough time, you can switch from adrenalin-driven self-preservation to conscience-driven self-sacrifice.
The insights come from a new comparison of survival data from the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 with the loss of 1517 lives out of 2207, and the fateful torpedoing of the Lusitania three years later, which killed 1198 passengers out of 1949...