by Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
Unfortunately for those partying on the upper First Class decks, they are as doomed as the steerage passengers when the ship goes down.
Why did passengers remain on the Titanic even as its bow sank deeper into the ice-cold Atlantic? They believed the experts and authorities because they wanted to believe the ship was “unsinkable.” And why did they want to believe the ship was “unsinkable”?
Two visceral realities fueled their misplaced faith in the ship’s supposed safety:
1) The warm ship seemed so mighty, and the alternative–open lifeboats drifting in the dark cold night–seemed so vulnerable, uncomfortable and risky.
2) It was much easier to believe the experts’ assurances that the ship was safe than it was to clamber into a small lifeboat and bob around the open Atlantic.