Shocking events, such as disasters, wars, mis-treatment or abuse
are serious attacks on the personal and social lives of human beings.
The search for protection from these disruptive events is one
of the major motives of mankind. The goal of this remarkable
book is to acquire insight into the development and effectiveness
of the tools which humanity has invented to cope with these
events and how it will be able to deal with the crises and suffering
it is being faced with now. The thesis is that the drive to protect
themselves has made people more resilient against many of these
events and empathy for the pain of other people has become the
core of their civilization.