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Comment by DennisP | Hacker News Reader

> In a room with six exits, it seems like the most logical course of action would be for the crowd to divide evenly among all six. Instead, we stampede to just one.

Something to watch out for if ever in that situation.

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In high school I got caught in the crowd once following a release from some kind of pep rally, I was effectively crushed against a wall while it passed. The gymnasium had plenty of exits, but the field-side wasn't where anyone wanted to go. Classes and the cafeteria were through three double-door exits on the non-field-side. After that one mistake, I started going toward the field and then walked around the exterior. I've kept that pattern up whenever I'm in any crowded place with a lot of people being released at once. I look specifically for the reasonable exits that are away from most people's interest, even if it takes me a bit longer (often it's faster because there is no crowd jamming up the exit).

Movie theaters (remember those?) usually have a door or two up by the screen that no one uses. Most of the time I have seen them lead out some weird hallway that goes directly outside. They usually aren't emergency exits either. All around pretty great.

And many, in the US, don't alarm their emergency exits. I've used those to good effect when I've opted to see a particularly popular new release. You can usually park behind/beside the theater, not just in the main lot, so these exits are actually faster for accessing your car and then you can use access roads behind the theater to exit the parking lot as well.

Often they go directly outside. I once was seated near such an exit when someone who had apparently left (and left something behind) started hammering on the exit door.

This was years before the Aurora shooting, and after looking around at everyone else who didn’t want to make the decision either, I let him in instead of letting him continue to distract from the movie.

Bad decision, one I’d definitely not repeat.

and this thought process is why we take off our shoes at airports

> I once was seated near such an exit when someone who had apparently left (and left something behind) started hammering on the exit door.

Pretty sure you let in a freeloader, haha

Nah, he grabbed something in a seat and left.

How many Aurora shootings have there been? How many people have used those doors as entrances? I very much suspect the odds suggest it was not a bad decision.

Ditto old theatre buildings in London's theatreland. These alt routes help deconflict the people exiting the current show from those coming in to see the next one.

This gave me the mental image of an HNer patting himself on the back for not following the crowd after finding himself burning alive in the nightclub's broom closet as it burns down.

Yeah exactly this. If you know all the exits are safe, then evenly splitting up is best. But I reckon in situations like this, most of the time you don't know and then following the rest seems like the best strategy to me.

I attended some emergency training a couple of years ago, and the instructor drove home one point in particular: always identify the exits when you’re in an unfamiliar building.

It seems like the best strategy because you figure other people know something you don't know. But since they always pick just one exit, that's not a valid conclusion.

Since the crowd behaves the same way whether they picked the best exit or a random one, you have no idea whether it's the best way out, but you do know it has added risk of delay and trampling.

The broom closet scenario isn't really possible; if the door isn't an exit, it won't have the big EXIT sign over it.

Like that old saying "those who panic first, die first".

Personally, that has mostly applied in online gaming matches. Seems like it'd fit here too though. ;)

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