An increased sense of shared identity is very common among those experiencing catastrophes, and this is a powerful source of cooperative behavior and goodwill. One of the ways this happens is that a widely shared peril erodes prior divisions, bringing large numbers of people into the category of “us.” Everyone becomes part of the group confronting the problem. And the shared adversity creates what is possibly the most important division of all: those who are facing the same threat one is facing and those who are not. That activates an inborn tendency to look kindly upon members of one’s own
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