Exactly. It's very well developed and seems an incredibly "safe" environment. People aren't in the mindset that there could be danger (even if they should be).
It takes processing time before people even realize that this isn't normal. Also there's social proof all over. When it goes off people look around, see that nobody else is bailing, so they assume things are ok. It takes a little time to override that tendency and get people to start moving.
"People aren't in the mindset that there could be danger (even if they should be)."
This could be said of life generally. It seems like very few people even have a minimal level of situational awareness while walking to the mailbox or walking through a store.
Being near, or crossing, streets are traditionally dangerous. There are plenty of lawsuits from people getting hurt in stores every year. People who think they don't need to pay attention to what's around them in those situations are just ignorant.
And insensitivity. That's why we put one person on guard so everyone
else can go 'shields-down'. Dangerous situation requires an assigned
responsible person whose job is to be heads-up for that time and
empowered to raise alarms, order people back etc. I guess if this is
some kind of "nature spectacle theme park" you need someone
permanently around who is an expert on the situation and knows when to
call it.
Not really. There are different levels of situational awareness. One doesn't have to be on high alert. Just being alert enough that you hear a pallet jack coming down the cross aisle is more alert than half the people seem to be.
Maintaining any level of vigilance is still more exhausting than maintaining none at all, even if at some personal level you believe it shouldn't be hard to do.
Do you look before you cross the street? Do you turn to see what a beeping noise is that is approaching you in a store? Do these things exhaust you?
It's super easy to have basic awareness. Crossing the street is a great example because you need the awareness that you're near a street. Then the awareness to see if it has a crosswalk/light/etc. Then what the light status is (if applicable). Finally looking for cars.
People who lack any awareness at all are the ones you hear about falling in manholes because they were looking at their phones.
It takes processing time before people even realize that this isn't normal. Also there's social proof all over. When it goes off people look around, see that nobody else is bailing, so they assume things are ok. It takes a little time to override that tendency and get people to start moving.