Doss’s discussion with Bryson shows how unprepared humans are for such a catastrophe, meaning—as with potential asteroid impact—when the next one happens, we’ll have no defenses. Even when humans know a catastrophe is imminent, we are still highly vulnerable due to the insurmountable scale of the disaster. Bryson emphasizes that our knowledge is limited to knowing that Yellowstone is due to erupt, but on the geological scale this could mean tomorrow or in thousands of years. Thus, our knowledge in anticipating this event more specifically is also limited.