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"Westerners have internalized certain value systems-capitalism, individualism-that in some ways contradict our social wiring. Disruptive events recalibrate us to a "default setting," which is "altruistic, communitarian [and] resourceful." Solnit does not seek to minimize the grief and suffering crises can cause. Yet she believes that dealing with extreme situations helps us access a satisfying depth of feeling. Perhaps that's one reason why people farther from a disaster often are more terrified by it. (Another explanation may be that onlookers can spare the emotional bandwidth for fear, while those at the epicenter simply do what they must.) But meanwhile, the disaster myths persist. We expect anarchy when an emergency hits and get confused when civilization doesn't come apart at the seams. Part of the blame lies with the media. Sociologists Kathleen Tierney, Christine Bevc, and Erica Kuligowski have outlined "reporting conventions that lead media organizations … to focus on dramatic, unusual, and exceptional behavior, which can lead audiences to believe such behavior is common and typical."* Anomaly or not, a theft caught on tape makes for more compelling viewing than endless footage of rain. What's more, they argue, news outlets narrate disasters through a "looting frame." "