The miracle on the Hudson is not so much about heroes and first-responders as it is about our instincts to preserve community. The conections within our nervous system and between each other have evolved over time, and by “time” I’m talking eons and ages, not years and lifetimes. The early humans had a well-developed brain stem, responsible for quickly reacting to danger. As part of the food chain, as “prey,” our priorities were food, shelter, and the ability to outrun something that wanted to eat us.

Working together against a foe was a key to survival. If you were about to be torn limb-from-limb by a pack of dyer wolves, your community would do their best to keep that from happening.. . And not necessarily because they’d miss your campfire stories, or “liked you as a person.” It was about losing your unique skills and manpower, and, not insignificantly, your DNA

Sometimes, it takes extraordinary events to bring out the “cooperation” response in communities. No longer faced with the dangers of lions, tigers and bears (at least for us city-dwellers), the idea of working together against a threat to the community as a whole is still somewhat foreign to us.

Its not false pride that causes “heroes” to downplay their actions, its instinct. There are still small, almost anomalous parts of our brain that insist that we act to help others.