#16 The Chemistry of Fire: Stories from the Top of Mount Washington to 12,000 Feet Beneath the Ocean to Night Assaults with the 82nd Airborne Divison | Laurence Gonzales, Author

“There’s no way to stop these accidents from happening, but there’s a way to stop them from happening to you.” – Laurence Gonzales

Laurence Gonzales (@deepsurvivalsm0) is an award-winning author of numerous books about the psychology and neuroscience of survival . In this episode, Laurence and Daniel discuss his newest book, The Chemistry of Fire, a collection of exploratory essays that feed into his work on survival.

Laurence Gonzales is an award-winning author of several books, including Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, Surviving Survival: The Art and Science of Resilience, and Flight 232: A Story of Disaster and Survival. He received the Miller Distinguished Scholarship from the Santa Fe Institute in 2016, as well as two National Magazine Awards and the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. 

Show notes with links, quotes, and a transcript of the episode:https://www.danielscrivner.com/notes/laurence-gonzales2-outliers-show-notes

Chapters in this interview:

• 00:00:09 – The concept of the chemistry of fire
• 00:03:43 – An adventure story of ice climbers on Mount Washington
• 00:09:26 – Why people keep going when they know they should turn back
• 00:14:14 – The importance of rules and systems for decision making
• 00:20:09 – The survival of a cross-country skier after a major mishap
• 00:25:52 – Laurence’s work with the Santa Fe Institute
• 00:36:37 – Words of wisdom for 2021 

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