Todos somos sobrevivientes: Pedro Algorta at TEDxResistencia
The speaker recounts surviving a plane crash in the Andes Mountains, emphasizing that the group's survival was based on sustained teamwork, not rescue, and that humanity's resilience is demonstrated by ordinary people achieving extraordinary results. He details the initial desperation, the necessity of consuming the dead for sustenance, and the final, successful trek to Chile over 70 days. The core lesson is that maintaining unity and working toward a goal, even without certainty of rescue, is vital for survival.
## Speakers & Context
- Unnamed speaker who lived in Corrientes, ran a brewery, and subsequently lived in the area for three years following the Andes incident.
- The experience of the Andes crash was initially a "private matter," only discussed with family and children.
- The talk takes place on November 16th, 1972, exactly 40 years after the crash.
- The speaker's current life routine includes celebrating milestones like his 40th birthday and his daughters' 15th birthdays while living a "normal life" in Corrientes/Resistencia.
## Theses & Positions
- The survival in the Andes was defined by the group's "individual and group salvation," achieved through an instinct for survival.
- The group's ability to survive was predicated on maintaining unity, as "no one could save themselves alone."
- The most crucial element for survival was the *attitude*—the constant work driven by uncertainty, rather than the hope of guaranteed rescue.
- Life is characterized by facing successive challenges, comparing it to "climbing mountains."
- The group's emotional support ("affection, support, and love") was as critical to survival as physical necessity.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Group Spirit:** A sense of unity built in fighting to survive, making the group organized.
- **The Instinct for Survival:** This instinct develops in pursuit of individual and group salvation.
- **Normal Life:** The life the speaker lived for three years in Corrientes, contrasted with the extreme ordeal.
- **Extreme Situation:** Being in the Andes Mountains, losing awareness of the passage of time, and facing resource depletion.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Initial Survival Response:** After realizing rescue was called off, the group began to consume the bodies of their dead companions as an offering to sustain themselves.
- **The Avalanche Event:** Tons of snow fell into the aircraft through an open rear, initially allowing breath because snow is porous, but freezing air stopped circulation, forcing the group to fight for breath.
- **Group Rebuilding:** Following the avalanche, the group rebuilt itself by having each member contribute based on their relative strengths and weaknesses.
- **The Trek:** The decision to walk across the Andes mountains, recognizing that the only path forward was movement.
- **Teamwork:** The teamwork that emerged was not rehearsed, but arose spontaneously from the individual survival instinct realizing that mutual survival was required.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **35 years:** Total time elapsed from the crash until the speaker started talking about it.
- **Three years:** Period the speaker lived in Corrientes after the crash.
- **November 16th, 1972:** Date the story is being told, marking exactly 40 years since the event.
- **Crash Event:** Happened on or around November 16th, 1972.
- **Post-Crash Period:** 33 days until hearing news of the crash.
- **Initial Survival:** Period in the Andes before the group realized rescue was abandoned.
- **Second Survival Phase:** The remaining 37 days after the initial 33 days.
- **The Trek:** Culminated when two companions, Canesa Parrado and Vicentina, reached Chile.
- **Rescue Window:** The final rescue occurred between December 22nd and December 23rd.
- **Total Time:** The group spent approximately 70 days surviving in the Andes.
## Named Entities
- **Corrientes:** Location where the speaker previously lived and ran a brewery.
- **Resistencia:** City where the speaker is currently residing/speaking.
- **Andes Mountains:** The mountainous region where the plane crashed.
- **Canesa Parrado** and **Vicentina:** Two companions who undertook the trek across the Andes to reach Chile.
- **Buenos Aires:** City where the speaker later returned to work at the university.
## Numbers & Data
- **Three years:** Duration the speaker lived in Corrientes.
- **35 years:** Time elapsed between the crash and when the speaker began talking about it.
- **40 years:** Time elapsed between the crash and the date of the talk (November 16th, 1972).
- **45:** Total number of people on the plane when it crashed.
- **27:** Number of survivors immediately after the crash.
- **18:** Number of people who died in the crash or immediately following it.
- **33 days:** Time passed before the group learned about the initial rescue efforts.
- **18:** Number of people who survived the first 33 days.
- **37 days:** Duration of the survival period following the first 33 days.
- **4,000 meters altitude:** Location of the plane when they were lost.
- **70 days:** Total time between the crash and the rescue.
- **16 to 25 years old:** Age range of the group when the crash occurred.
## Examples & Cases
- **Living Normal Life:** Celebrating the speaker's 40th birthday and his daughters' 15th birthdays in Corrientes.
- **Early Warning Signs:** Hearing the plane fly over, initially passing by, then passing again to make a cross and moving its wings, which was interpreted as a sign of sighting.
- **Initial Sustenance:** Driven by survival instinct, realizing the necessity of the bodies of deceased companions for food.
- **The Avalanche:** Being covered by falling snow, initially able to breathe due to porousness, until the snow froze and blocked airflow.
- **Rescue Arrival:** The group being rescued on December 22nd and 23rd.
- **The Trek Success:** The trek culminating when two companions reached Chile and sent reinforcements.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Small radio:** Used to listen to news updates regarding the search efforts.
- **Search plane:** Flew over the site, signaling its presence.
- **Aircraft:** The plane where the crash occurred and where the snow/avalanche struck.
## References Cited
- No external sources or works were cited.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker acknowledges the immense difficulty of telling the story, noting it is complex for his family because, to them, the group had died and were returning 70 days later.
- He addresses the injustice to the families of those who died, stating they were not any worse than the survivors for being in a different place at the time of the accident.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The central lesson derived is that *teamwork* arising from the individual survival instinct, shared goals, and mutual need, is what ensures survival; no one can save themselves alone.
- The most important takeaway is that the continuous act of working toward a goal, maintaining alertness, and giving up *nothing*—even when rescue is not guaranteed—is what kept them alive.
- The ultimate act of thanking the deceased is by continuing to live and tell the tale.
## Implications & Consequences
- **Physical Outcome:** The survivors were left thin and on the verge of death but emerged alive.
- **Psychological Impact:** The experience led to the speaker valuing and returning to a "normal life" and demonstrating the strength of emotional support.
- **Societal Contrast:** The story highlights the massive emotional gulf between the survivors (who were physically alive) and the families (who believed they had perished).
## Verbatim Moments
- *"I didn't speak at all about what had happened to me in the Andes."*
- *"It really was a very intense subject."*
- *"I have always been just an ordinary person for whom what happened to me in the Andes was a personal matter."*
- *"Today is November 16th, 1972, exactly 40 years ago."*
- *"we had learned some things."*
- *"The next day no one came looking for us."*
- *"we realized that we had the bodies of our dead companions as an offering so that we could feed ourselves."*
- *"When snow freezes, the air stops passing through."*
- *"That avalanche killed eight people, killed the team captain who had been so important in the first few days, killed the only woman who was still alive."*
- *"The only thing that mattered there was that we were human beings fighting to survive."*
- *"we were our legs."*
- *"We came out like people who had suffered a lot, who had learned some things."*
- *"We didn't come back from death; we came back from life, from having lived very close, from having been in a very extreme situation..."*
- *"what's extraordinary about our story is that it shows how ordinary people placed in extreme situations can truly achieve extraordinary results."*
- *"If you give up even a little, you won't make it to the end."*
- *"What kept us alive was our attitude, the uncertainty, the need to keep working."*