What are the blessings of disaster? – UBNow: news and opinions for UB faculty and staff

by Corey Neylon

Posted on November 8, 2022

disasters. earthquakes; Tornadoes. terrorist attacks. Climate change.

Each has the potential for tremendous suffering. But disasters like these also provide tremendous opportunities to enhance society’s resilience, according to earthquake engineer and longtime faculty member at University at Buffalo Michele Bruno.

Bruno, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering, is the author of a new book, Blessings of Disaster: Lessons We Have Learned from Disasters and Why Our Future Depends on Them, published today by Prometheus Books.

Written for a general audience, the book aims to show readers how by rethinking their approach to disasters it is possible to make society stronger and more resilient.

Publishing Weekly described it as “a complacency study of human self-satisfaction, myopia, and a widespread misperception of risk.”

In reviewing the book, Stephen Flynn, founding director of the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University writes: “With great humor and wisdom, Bruno takes us on what has turned out to be a hopeful journey to confront a reality we often deny; disasters are neither rare nor unknown. Along the way it enables us to To do what we ought to do; to think anew and act anew in the face of naturally occurring and man-made dangers.”

In this Q&A with UBNow, Bruneau offers some insights that help explain this book’s enthusiastic response.

In short, what is this book?

Well, please expand a bit.

“Blessings of Disaster” is the true story of our relationship to disaster and how it can provide insights into our future as a civilization – with enough arguments to tickle both optimists and pessimists alike. It gathers and connects knowledge from many disciplines to paint a global picture, provides facts to assess the importance of it all, and does so in vivid color to keep the reader’s mind focused.

Who should read this book at UB and SUNY, and why is it important now?

At a minimum, all 370,114 students, faculty, and staff of over 50,000 are affiliated with SUNY, their parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren—and the entire neighborhood. First and foremost because the book is entertaining and will attract people from all backgrounds and disciplines, and secondly because everyone should be aware of the complex factors that make it so difficult for society to prepare for disasters and the patterns of human nature and technology that will ensure that these disasters will (or will not) recur itself, because it is these same factors and patterns that will determine how the world will face its multiple existential threats. This is especially important for the current generation of students “on deck” to confront these threats and create a better future.

There are other books on disasters. why is that?

Blessings of Disaster takes a unique and holistic approach in terms of disasters and existential threats, and makes it a journey to explore multiple aspects of human nature and society in a way that is both informative and entertaining for the general public. At the same time, the book contains enough thought-provoking and controversial ideas for engineers, scientists, and other experts from many disciplines to be able to read it, too. Disasters are only the end product of human nature, and the book provides a comprehensive overview of the global and multidimensional aspects of the problem from this perspective. Besides, “Blessings of Disaster” only successfully relates natural disasters, silent heroes, crooks, cows, kidnappers, “the Three Little Pigs”, nuclear holocaust, movie reviews, viruses, scapegoats, trade stamps, real estate agents and hockey sticks. Chinese, airport proctologists and many more in a coherent narrative.

Isn’t it disgraceful to sprinkle humor in a book on the deadly subject of catastrophe?

“Some topics are so serious that one can only joke about them,” said Nobel laureate Niels Henrik David Bohr. Besides, aren’t most cereals coated with sugar?

Does history repeat itself when it comes to disasters?

The answer is excited “it depends”. After all, disasters are 100% human creations, so some things never change, and others do.

There is no shortage of disasters. What are some examples that you chose to write about and why?

Examples of disasters in the current context include devastation from earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, technological failures, terrorist attacks, and other similar large-scale events (having a bad day at the office, no matter how “disaster,” “don’t count here.”) That most hazards would not lead to disasters – if we weren’t there. This is a bit like the metaphysical question, “If a tree falls in a forest and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?” – but with disasters instead. In fact, that The infrastructure that we built to protect us from the environment is the one that collapses and kills us during earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.

Is there common ground between Covid-19 and an earthquake, for example?

A pandemic is an “earthquake” in slow motion. They unfold on a different time scale, giving time for actions and reactions as they happen, but other than that they don’t differ much, as shown in the book. Almost all causes of disasters remain true for epidemics.

What makes an engineer – especially you – qualified to tell this story?

Confessing to be a seismic engineer can be effective at the party—except when you admit that you’re an earthquake engineer. In a way, far from being fascinated by the sheer force of earthquakes, everyone wants to be assured that our infrastructure will not collapse and that we will not suffer or die after a major earthquake – as if for once we can be protected from the inevitable shortcomings of humans. temper nature. I’ve spent my life in endless party… An earthquake engineer is tasked with designing infrastructure to survive earthquakes. Such efforts often require engineers, architects, sociologists, public policy experts, political scientists, and even the public—all with conflicting priorities—to agree on a common goal when there is often no consensus within one of these groups. Attempting to achieve this is down a path that inevitably relates to the many aspects of human nature – from the attractive to the insane. In this world, I have more than three decades of experience working with multidisciplinary teams to advance the goal of disaster resilience.

Given the subject matter, the book has its share of gloom and gloom. However, it also carries a sense of optimism. How will this book change those who read it?

This book does not promise to change or improve anyone. In fact, if anything, the exact thesis here is that human nature cannot be easily changed – except for catastrophes. However, it does show that eventually things get right, and sometimes better, for the lucky people who survive.

So, are we doomed?

The answer is in the book. Those who have the urge to jump off a cliff every time they read apocalyptic stories online may find some comfort in that, but then again, maybe not.

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