My experience of a natural disaster confirms this from the article:
> He concluded that disasters “result however temporarily in what may be regarded as a kind of social utopia.” “While the natural or human forces that precipitated the disaster appear hostile and punishing,” Fritz observed, “the people who survive become more friendly, sympathetic, and helpful than in normal times.” In disaster scenarios, shared fear and suffering create “an intimate group solidarity among the survivors.” When the world suddenly falls apart, people do not grow more selfish, violent, or irrational, but more altruistic, caring, and calm.
After the Christchurch earthquake of 2011, killed 185 people, devastated large sections of the city [0], suddenly everyone was nicer, for about 3 months - giving way more in traffic, smiling more at strangers, checking on neighbours they'd never spoken to before.
Then one day, an old lady starts ramming my shopping trolly at the supermarket checkout because she thought I was going too slow, and I thought to myself, "Ah, Christchurch is getting back to normal".
> He concluded that disasters “result however temporarily in what may be regarded as a kind of social utopia.” “While the natural or human forces that precipitated the disaster appear hostile and punishing,” Fritz observed, “the people who survive become more friendly, sympathetic, and helpful than in normal times.” In disaster scenarios, shared fear and suffering create “an intimate group solidarity among the survivors.” When the world suddenly falls apart, people do not grow more selfish, violent, or irrational, but more altruistic, caring, and calm.
After the Christchurch earthquake of 2011, killed 185 people, devastated large sections of the city [0], suddenly everyone was nicer, for about 3 months - giving way more in traffic, smiling more at strangers, checking on neighbours they'd never spoken to before.
Then one day, an old lady starts ramming my shopping trolly at the supermarket checkout because she thought I was going too slow, and I thought to myself, "Ah, Christchurch is getting back to normal".
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Christchurch_earthquake