As chaos erupts, alerts screech on our cell phones and torrents of conflicting-yet-urgent messages gush from media outlets. What is the magnitude of the crisis? What is its cause? And what should people do to protect themselves?

The speed and direction of these details is known as the velocity of information. It overwhelms and distresses people who have not built a network of trustworthy sources to traverse disorder.

Velocity of Information offers understanding to manage chaos and our complex reactions to crisis situations influenced by bias and propaganda. Recognizing indicators to judge the severity of an incident, understanding human predispositions, and joining a member check network to gauge real-time observations from people in your network provide direction to respond to the reality of a situation with impartiality, thus improving outcomes.

This book also provides a novel framework for understanding chaos based on duration, location, and complexity. Understanding how human cognitive limitations affect individual and group human behavior during different stages of chaos allows readers to use the tools in this book to avoid hysteria and optimize responses to emergency events.

Utilizing personal interviews and explorations of historical and contemporary events, Velocity of Information provides a functional and realistic roadmap with specific, actionable guidance on how to navigate chaos.

David P. Perrodin