Q&A: Survivors Club author Ben Sherwood
Why do some overcome adversity and others not? Lottie Moggach finds out from the author of new book The Survivors Club, Ben Sherwood
23 June 2009
What does being a survivor boil down to?
The most effective survivors aren’t different from us, they don’t possess superhuman strength, but they bounce back, recover and persevere. That boils down to three things: being adaptable, being resilient, and situational awareness – which, for a commuter on the Tube, could be as simple as being aware of where the station exits are.
What specific things can people do to increase their chances of surviving a plane crash?
There is a myth of hopelessness about plane crashes. But actually, research shows 96 per cent of people survive. And if you get on a plane thinking it’s a live-or-die proposition, you’ll probably engage in counter-productive behaviour.
Like what?
Tuning out the safety briefing, putting on your iPod and a blindfold, having a couple of beers, taking a sleeping pill –these are the wrong things.
In the book you talk to people who survived terrible mental ordeals. What did you learn from them?
That the capacity for people in the worst situations to do great things is enormous. And then there’s the Stockdale Paradox, which addresses who survived and who died in Vietnam. The optimists were the ones who died: they couldn’t handle the emotional rollercoaster and their hope died quickly.
What did you discover about survival that surprised you most?
The power of faith. I met people who told me how faith gave them strength to overcome adversity.
The Survivors Club is published by Michael Joseph, 15.99, www.thesurvivorsclub.org
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