Living in a Crisis-Prone World

Abstract

Without exception, crises cause the collapse of the major operating assumptions that we use to give meaning and order to our world. In one fell swoop, they destroy our entire belief systems, leaving us adrift in a disorderly and meaningless world. Nonetheless, the collapse of assumptions is the least appreciated and least understood aspects of crises. In each chapter and the book as a whole, we analyze a diverse array of major crises to show systematically what the prevailing assumptions were that the crises destroyed. We also show how the assumptions were a major factor that led to the initial crises themselves. To help us prepare better for future crises, we show what is common to the assumptions.