BlackFeather
New member
I counted the passes right the first time, I started laughing at the color changing card trick video... I don't know why it was funny to just notice what was going on but it was... Great videos, interesting concepts.
Awareness Levels AKA "You're not as alert as you think you are."
- Thread starter pax
- Start date
Good thread. Too bad it did not get as much traction as the ehem.. aforementioned victim bashing threads. Seems we just had another come out here the other day and it went straight into it.
I have seen the gorilla thread before and got that one. The color change one got me good though.
Strangely I was having this same discussion this morning.
I will tell the tale of a very odd experience I had in Iraq.
We were conducting some heavy dismounted clearing operations in a particularly bad neighborhood. I was in about as high a state of alert as I have ever been. I was looking for bad guys, boobie traps and keeping track of my IA and team mates. I started getting a little fatigued and took a knee to rest for a couple of minutes and suck down some water out of my camelback. Also wanted to talk to some of the IA about what to do next.
Anyway I am sitting there for a minute or two and notice that there are about half a dozen mortar rounds sitting in a little pile about six feet away. Up till then I had not been looking for mortar rounds. I back away a little towards the debris pile and then look around again. The debris pile is full of all kinds of ordinance, some live, some with the warheads removed. We had walked up to a recently vacated position right next to an IED factory. They had been taking the warheads out and putting them in IEDs of various bombs. Some of this ordinance was likely left over from the first gulf war and was likely not so stable given the storage conditions. Some was new stuff straight from Iran with all of their wonderful quality control. This is not such a good place to be when there are people shooting around you in various directions.
I thought I was fully alert, but had just walked into an area full of bombs without even really noticing them. My soldiers had all just walked through the area as well. No one had raised so much as a whisper about it.
I think the mind can only focus on so many things at once. Training, experience and threat evaluation help determine that. They can also serve to inhibit you from threats that you had not considered as your reasoning skills are impeded to a degree when you are so focused on being alert. This is one of the reasons that it is tough being a combat leader. As the leader you have to rely on your men to go take action and look for things while you work to retain your reasoning skills to make good decisions about what actions to take next. I think once I paused to regain control of my faculties and consider future actions I "reengaged" my reasoning skills I was able to see that there was another threat that we were not currently looking for.
All magic tricks work on misdirection. This one has been kicking round the internet for years. I found it hilarious the number of people who could not figure it out though. I had a secretary who sat there half the day trying to figure it out:
http://www.caveofmagic.com/cardtrick2.htm
I have seen the gorilla thread before and got that one. The color change one got me good though.
Strangely I was having this same discussion this morning.
I will tell the tale of a very odd experience I had in Iraq.
We were conducting some heavy dismounted clearing operations in a particularly bad neighborhood. I was in about as high a state of alert as I have ever been. I was looking for bad guys, boobie traps and keeping track of my IA and team mates. I started getting a little fatigued and took a knee to rest for a couple of minutes and suck down some water out of my camelback. Also wanted to talk to some of the IA about what to do next.
Anyway I am sitting there for a minute or two and notice that there are about half a dozen mortar rounds sitting in a little pile about six feet away. Up till then I had not been looking for mortar rounds. I back away a little towards the debris pile and then look around again. The debris pile is full of all kinds of ordinance, some live, some with the warheads removed. We had walked up to a recently vacated position right next to an IED factory. They had been taking the warheads out and putting them in IEDs of various bombs. Some of this ordinance was likely left over from the first gulf war and was likely not so stable given the storage conditions. Some was new stuff straight from Iran with all of their wonderful quality control. This is not such a good place to be when there are people shooting around you in various directions.
I thought I was fully alert, but had just walked into an area full of bombs without even really noticing them. My soldiers had all just walked through the area as well. No one had raised so much as a whisper about it.
I think the mind can only focus on so many things at once. Training, experience and threat evaluation help determine that. They can also serve to inhibit you from threats that you had not considered as your reasoning skills are impeded to a degree when you are so focused on being alert. This is one of the reasons that it is tough being a combat leader. As the leader you have to rely on your men to go take action and look for things while you work to retain your reasoning skills to make good decisions about what actions to take next. I think once I paused to regain control of my faculties and consider future actions I "reengaged" my reasoning skills I was able to see that there was another threat that we were not currently looking for.
All magic tricks work on misdirection. This one has been kicking round the internet for years. I found it hilarious the number of people who could not figure it out though. I had a secretary who sat there half the day trying to figure it out:
http://www.caveofmagic.com/cardtrick2.htm
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I saw this video a while ago. I have played with the wide angle vision and it seems to increase awareness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BlvqOg6HCc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BlvqOg6HCc
Saw the Gorilla in the first video (but only counted 14
)
Caught the deck change, background change, and the lady's new shirt in the 2ed video.
Reminds me of an article I read a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.kagishomamabolo.com/how-to-turn-your-luck-around/
if you check it out about half way down it makes the same point.
)Caught the deck change, background change, and the lady's new shirt in the 2ed video.
Reminds me of an article I read a couple of weeks ago.
http://www.kagishomamabolo.com/how-to-turn-your-luck-around/
if you check it out about half way down it makes the same point.
Dr. Strangelove
New member
pax said:
Interesting thing, perception. I did all the required reading for this post, and failed miserably. I was focused on where I thought I should be looking, and missed most of what was presented.
Here's my addition to this post, happened two nights ago. It's an interesting example of perception.
I was leaving the $1.99 theater with my brother at about 9:00pm after watching Sherlock Holmes (not a bad flick, but not for hard-core Sherlock Holmes fans). The sun was down, no moon, only parking lot lights. We're both unarmed.
We had parked on the far end of the lot and were walking towards the car, talking about the movie we had just seen, laughing about the differences in the stories and the movies.
About halfway down the parking lot, a young black male (not being racist, it does go to perceptions, I'm a white male, by the way) comes out about ten cars down running full tilt directly at us. My first thought? "It's really going down, isn't it?" My second thought? "I'm closest to this guy, so I'll tackle him and hopefully my brother can administer enough of a beating to stop him from killing/robbing us"
As I'm changing stance to tackle this guy, I notice he's running full out, like a track runner, not in an aggressive way, and he has nothing in his hands. He sees me, and changes course, blowing by me and heading to the theater lobby.
We keep walking, and see three other guys standing by a car, apparently this guy left his phone in the drink holder in his seat in the theater. They were talking about going to pick him up at the front of he theater.
Perceptions? I thought "it was going down". I recognized quickly enough that that wasn't the case. I didn't see the three other guys standing by the car, which would have been a problem had a crime actually been occurring.
This instance made me really think, had I been carrying, would I have drawn on this guy? If I had drawn on the guy, I certainly didn't know he had three friends backing him up a few cars down. What would have happened if this was really a crime and not just someone forgetting a phone?
I had already decided this guy was a threat, because of my perception of what I saw. I focused on the immediate "threat" and didn't realize that there were three more possible "threats" out there. I saw only what I "expected" and focused only on that.
In this case of the unseen, unnoticed "threat" that came out of nowhere, I may have had a couple of seconds to draw a weapon and fire. What of the unseen "accomplices" or the other movie patrons innocently walking to their cars?
The OP poses an interesting question, how to be ever vigilant without losing focus on the larger picture of the world around you?
I can't watch the video but I've got a couple of comments anyway. The first is about drawing your pistol.
There haven't been all that many threads here about drawing your pistol. That is, just about the draw itself. I will admit that it is a difficult to write about, rather like trying to describe in print how to drive a car. It is about 95% practice, if not more. In any case, however, I wonder how much has entered our subconsciousness over the years from watch television and movies of people doing fast draw, usually from a Hollywood holster. I would be willing to bet that that picture was so strong that numbers of lawmen in the west in the 1950s and 60s actually wore such a rig with their Single Action Army. I'd say there is room for a lot of discussion here about drawing your pistol.
The other thing that comes to mind is this. I did a little fencing in college and while fencing is a theoretical combat sport, it bears about as much relation as does target shooting with your K38. I remember another student asking the instructor, "What do you watch." The question referring to what you should watch about your opponent in order to second guess his intentions. That is an important aspect of awareness when you're up close, though in fencing, just like in boxing, you only have one opponent. Unfortunately, real life is more like tag team wrestling.
The answer, by the way, was watch the eyes.
There haven't been all that many threads here about drawing your pistol. That is, just about the draw itself. I will admit that it is a difficult to write about, rather like trying to describe in print how to drive a car. It is about 95% practice, if not more. In any case, however, I wonder how much has entered our subconsciousness over the years from watch television and movies of people doing fast draw, usually from a Hollywood holster. I would be willing to bet that that picture was so strong that numbers of lawmen in the west in the 1950s and 60s actually wore such a rig with their Single Action Army. I'd say there is room for a lot of discussion here about drawing your pistol.
The other thing that comes to mind is this. I did a little fencing in college and while fencing is a theoretical combat sport, it bears about as much relation as does target shooting with your K38. I remember another student asking the instructor, "What do you watch." The question referring to what you should watch about your opponent in order to second guess his intentions. That is an important aspect of awareness when you're up close, though in fencing, just like in boxing, you only have one opponent. Unfortunately, real life is more like tag team wrestling.
The answer, by the way, was watch the eyes.
Interesting post.
I live in a very low crime area and as with almost all those who come through my carry class are also likewise unaware of our surroundings as a rule.
To change our level of awareness would require some hard work that may cause use to actually stand out much more than would be appropriate. Kind of like when I do venture into the metro jungle that I am not at home in, to the point that when I had to get workups done at the transplant center my blood pressure was higher than normal. I told the staff when they were going to boot me from the donor list that I am not at home here in the city and that is why my press........ SO I was sent home with a B/P monitoring device and sure enough when back in my comfort zone my B/P was OK!
My brother was very happy about it also.
We live and then adapt to our surroundings. Yes I am more at risk of not seeing a threat than I should be, but that is how I choose to live.
Now when I have my family under my watch I pay much more attention and that in itself is very noticable, kind of like when I duck and weave through the city
.
This thread will give me much background for my always updating power point presentation.
I live in a very low crime area and as with almost all those who come through my carry class are also likewise unaware of our surroundings as a rule.
To change our level of awareness would require some hard work that may cause use to actually stand out much more than would be appropriate. Kind of like when I do venture into the metro jungle that I am not at home in, to the point that when I had to get workups done at the transplant center my blood pressure was higher than normal. I told the staff when they were going to boot me from the donor list that I am not at home here in the city and that is why my press........ SO I was sent home with a B/P monitoring device and sure enough when back in my comfort zone my B/P was OK!
My brother was very happy about it also.
We live and then adapt to our surroundings. Yes I am more at risk of not seeing a threat than I should be, but that is how I choose to live.
Now when I have my family under my watch I pay much more attention and that in itself is very noticable, kind of like when I duck and weave through the city
.This thread will give me much background for my always updating power point presentation.
The Human mind only has so much power to process information. If we want to utilize the power efficiently (say to survive) why then would we waste effort to remember every little stimulus we come across? If you’re driving cross country with your kids late at night and you notice a sketchy car that seems to be following you, are you going to kick yourself because you did not notice that the Carl’s Jr’s restaurants turned into Hardees restaurants? We specifically told ourselves what to look for and disregard other stimuli, and we accomplished that. This is an interesting example of a behavior that is probably beneficial to our survival (which may be obvious considering we exhibit it and we are a quite dominating species).
Great post !! AKA " F-N COOL ! "
I love the psychology studies .....
Reading that last article made me think of the video 3 posts below :
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e6_1271936781
Was that a car in the background ? House lights ? Street lights ?
Had you been driving by when that went down , would the policemen have had the consciousness to not continue firing ? ( 13 shots 1 hit target )
I could never blame him if he didn't. Imagining myself in that scenario I could see how completely easy that would be. I would hope his training would make him much better than I am at that perceptual recognition .... but I could totally understand if he didn't.
We had the same drills in our Hunter education class where we watched a video and were asked to answer if we could shoot or not at the end of each scenario......
95% of the class missed the other hunter running down the hill right behind the deer sprinting across the field.
Now my only response beyond that is that I failed terribly at all the video tests.
And secondly , couldn't the same be said for the " suggestive comments " ? In that we were TOLD in atleast one of the video's where to focus. We weren't allowed to just let our focus do what it would , but to specifically focus on a given object , thereby us dismissing the others from perception ( the Gorilla is the one I'm thinking about )
As another "Matrix" Reference ( as in one of those links ) Had they not told us to count the balls ...... Would we have missed the Gorilla ? ( when the oracle mentioned the flower pot ) Had they said " Watch this video and pick the most aggressive target " Would so many of us have failed ?
Had they said " Watch this video and tell me what you see" ? How many might have seen the Gorilla ?
In the second one we had camera tricks Zooming in and removing the "active" visual changes from our perception..... Had they showed the entire scene without zooming or camera angles changing .... How many of us would have seen an instant change in clothing ?
Very interesting concepts and alot of Valid points .... but both of those seem to be related to misdirection or lack of true availability to see the entire picture.
I love the psychology studies .....
Reading that last article made me think of the video 3 posts below :
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5e6_1271936781
Was that a car in the background ? House lights ? Street lights ?
Had you been driving by when that went down , would the policemen have had the consciousness to not continue firing ? ( 13 shots 1 hit target )
I could never blame him if he didn't. Imagining myself in that scenario I could see how completely easy that would be. I would hope his training would make him much better than I am at that perceptual recognition .... but I could totally understand if he didn't.
We had the same drills in our Hunter education class where we watched a video and were asked to answer if we could shoot or not at the end of each scenario......
95% of the class missed the other hunter running down the hill right behind the deer sprinting across the field.
Now my only response beyond that is that I failed terribly at all the video tests.
And secondly , couldn't the same be said for the " suggestive comments " ? In that we were TOLD in atleast one of the video's where to focus. We weren't allowed to just let our focus do what it would , but to specifically focus on a given object , thereby us dismissing the others from perception ( the Gorilla is the one I'm thinking about )
As another "Matrix" Reference ( as in one of those links ) Had they not told us to count the balls ...... Would we have missed the Gorilla ? ( when the oracle mentioned the flower pot ) Had they said " Watch this video and pick the most aggressive target " Would so many of us have failed ?
Had they said " Watch this video and tell me what you see" ? How many might have seen the Gorilla ?
In the second one we had camera tricks Zooming in and removing the "active" visual changes from our perception..... Had they showed the entire scene without zooming or camera angles changing .... How many of us would have seen an instant change in clothing ?
Very interesting concepts and alot of Valid points .... but both of those seem to be related to misdirection or lack of true availability to see the entire picture.
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A couple more thoughts after reading through the replies.....
Absolutely true. This is how I was able to nail a guy on our security camera's that came back a second time dressed differently and carrying himself differently..... I saw that they were the exact same pair of shoes. Police nabbed him a few days later.
Also to the thoughts about license plates and clothing, noticing changes in appearance.
I used to pride myself in always seeing people I knew on the street by car and facial recognition. Now days I am mostly oblivious and in my own little world and thought process while focusing on driving.
I also still to this day am always the first to notice the change in a persons appearance. Hair style , Beard, Makeup etc ...... I don't notice shoes or anything else unless specifically focused on it. ( Although a hundred times I've tried to tell myself to try it so I can figure out who that is stanking up the company Bathroom next to me )
I am also the person that Never forgets a face but has a VERY hard time remembering names. To the point that there is a guy at the store near my work and we both have been trying to figure out where we know each other from for the past 6 months. I know his face , I recognize the sound of his voice associated with that face. No clue how I know him , from where or what his name was...
I drive my Fiance' nuts because in every movie we watch she hears me say " Hey ! He/She was in <insert> movie" Yet I can almost never know their names ....
So what does this say about my focus ? That because I focus on the visuals of the person and not the clothing .... and have a nack for it that I should spend more time focusing on the auditory and memory ? If I do so would I lose some of that visual implant ?
Very interesting topic...... Love it. Now to read more of the replies.
Absolutely true. This is how I was able to nail a guy on our security camera's that came back a second time dressed differently and carrying himself differently..... I saw that they were the exact same pair of shoes. Police nabbed him a few days later.
Also to the thoughts about license plates and clothing, noticing changes in appearance.
I used to pride myself in always seeing people I knew on the street by car and facial recognition. Now days I am mostly oblivious and in my own little world and thought process while focusing on driving.
I also still to this day am always the first to notice the change in a persons appearance. Hair style , Beard, Makeup etc ...... I don't notice shoes or anything else unless specifically focused on it. ( Although a hundred times I've tried to tell myself to try it so I can figure out who that is stanking up the company Bathroom next to me )
I am also the person that Never forgets a face but has a VERY hard time remembering names. To the point that there is a guy at the store near my work and we both have been trying to figure out where we know each other from for the past 6 months. I know his face , I recognize the sound of his voice associated with that face. No clue how I know him , from where or what his name was...
I drive my Fiance' nuts because in every movie we watch she hears me say " Hey ! He/She was in <insert> movie" Yet I can almost never know their names ....
So what does this say about my focus ? That because I focus on the visuals of the person and not the clothing .... and have a nack for it that I should spend more time focusing on the auditory and memory ? If I do so would I lose some of that visual implant ?
Very interesting topic...... Love it. Now to read more of the replies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BlvqOg6HCc
EXCELLENT VIDEO ....
I grew up in the woods at the foot of a mountain as my backyard. While I never did much gun hunting , me and my friends would be out for 10 ours a day in the summer in those woods.
He put into words something that I learned through the years..... But it still required Focus.
We might be focusing on seeing and following that leaf covered trail and only allowing our ears to listen for other sounds.
We might be playing " Army rangers" and would allow ourselves to fall back and focus on EVERYTHING.
Wide angle vision just looking for movement , Listening for every sound of a squirrel , dear , leaves , sticks falling etc...... heightened sense of awareness by constantly being on guard at all times....
To put it simply ..... "Hunting" Because that is exactly the skills used in hunting. Entire focus on your surroundings to the exclusion of every other thought in your life.
Dr Strangelove..... That's just Fight or flight mentality based on our perceptions of the situation... Unfortunately for all of us that's where Hesitation MAY be a good thing. So often it's not .... So often it is .....
( Sorry for the topic spam ..... Such an interesting thread and so many thoughts .... hard to combine them into a single post without a giant WOT ( Wall of text )
EXCELLENT VIDEO ....
I grew up in the woods at the foot of a mountain as my backyard. While I never did much gun hunting , me and my friends would be out for 10 ours a day in the summer in those woods.
He put into words something that I learned through the years..... But it still required Focus.
We might be focusing on seeing and following that leaf covered trail and only allowing our ears to listen for other sounds.
We might be playing " Army rangers" and would allow ourselves to fall back and focus on EVERYTHING.
Wide angle vision just looking for movement , Listening for every sound of a squirrel , dear , leaves , sticks falling etc...... heightened sense of awareness by constantly being on guard at all times....
To put it simply ..... "Hunting" Because that is exactly the skills used in hunting. Entire focus on your surroundings to the exclusion of every other thought in your life.
Dr Strangelove..... That's just Fight or flight mentality based on our perceptions of the situation... Unfortunately for all of us that's where Hesitation MAY be a good thing. So often it's not .... So often it is .....
( Sorry for the topic spam ..... Such an interesting thread and so many thoughts .... hard to combine them into a single post without a giant WOT ( Wall of text )
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bamboo spear
Inactive
I'd say you just have to find that healthy balance between awareness and outright paranoia.
New laws in effect all over the country, prohibiting peeps from driving with cell phones....why? Because for many people driving a car is 'enough'.
Ever seen peeps driving down the road at 30 mph, but the way they grip the wheel, intent stare, you would think they are doing 300 mph. They are right at the edge of thier abilities.
Read the series 'Twist of the Wrist', by Keith Code...a motorcycle instructor...he uses the analogy that we all start with a dollar of 'capability'...as the rain pours, speed get higher, cars all around...there is a place where you have used up .99 cents, and a cat jumping out in the road is 'too much'. A racer starts with $5, the new motorcycler starts with .25 cents....
In the animal world the 'aware' animal wins....and while there might be human limitations to our perceptions, how we think...we are all in the same boat...so is the bad guy, so is the super ninja homie...
There is no doubt some people take the concept of being 'aware and ready' to a point where they build a fort in the middle of nowhere so that while they sleep, they feel there is enough 'defense' around them to that they don't have to be 'on' all the time...we can all make our homes like this...my home is set up so that someone has to 'break something' to get in...so I will hear it...it's not fool proof, but it gives me time.....
Anyway you cut it though...not all of us are the same intelligence, or have the same training, or genetic makeup...some peeps are walking around with no thought whatsoever to the dangers around them...others are spring loaded for super ninjas when walking the Pomeranian in a small town at the park.
While it's tough to be 'ready' all the time...one can recognize 'when' to be ready...and 'how much' readiness is appropriate for the situation.
Ever seen peeps driving down the road at 30 mph, but the way they grip the wheel, intent stare, you would think they are doing 300 mph. They are right at the edge of thier abilities.
Read the series 'Twist of the Wrist', by Keith Code...a motorcycle instructor...he uses the analogy that we all start with a dollar of 'capability'...as the rain pours, speed get higher, cars all around...there is a place where you have used up .99 cents, and a cat jumping out in the road is 'too much'. A racer starts with $5, the new motorcycler starts with .25 cents....
In the animal world the 'aware' animal wins....and while there might be human limitations to our perceptions, how we think...we are all in the same boat...so is the bad guy, so is the super ninja homie...
There is no doubt some people take the concept of being 'aware and ready' to a point where they build a fort in the middle of nowhere so that while they sleep, they feel there is enough 'defense' around them to that they don't have to be 'on' all the time...we can all make our homes like this...my home is set up so that someone has to 'break something' to get in...so I will hear it...it's not fool proof, but it gives me time.....
Anyway you cut it though...not all of us are the same intelligence, or have the same training, or genetic makeup...some peeps are walking around with no thought whatsoever to the dangers around them...others are spring loaded for super ninjas when walking the Pomeranian in a small town at the park.
While it's tough to be 'ready' all the time...one can recognize 'when' to be ready...and 'how much' readiness is appropriate for the situation.
FireForged
New member
I tend not to over intellectualize awareness. It is my intent to pay attn to what is happening around me. To that end, I make the effort to not allow myself to become distracted by events that are not happening in my moment. If I am leaving work and walking to my car, I do not think about work, phone calls or what items I may have left out on my desk... I think about what is happening in my moment where I am right now and what may happen in the next few seconds. All this being said, I certainly realize that I can not possibly notice and understand absolutelty everything that is happening 360 degees around, above and below me, and I dont try to. I Focus on what is possible and I find confort in the fact that I am not a walking zombie who tripped over the curb that he was walking towards for 5 min.
Since my day is heavily scheduled and I start the morning off with computer stuff while drinking my coffee, I decided to address this one feature at a time.
I consider myself well aware of what is going on around me...at the very least, condition yellow at most times. I paid close attention to the first video and counted 11, twice. The first run really amazed me as I was so focused on the task, I missed the obvious. On the second run, it was clearly visible and kicked myself hard for missing it the first time.
I will have to spend the rest of my day re-evaluating my situational awareness as it is not what I thought it was. There is always the outside possibility that I am still waking up but prefer not to use this as an excuse.
Excellent exercise. Thanks for posting it. I look forward to the rest of it.
I consider myself well aware of what is going on around me...at the very least, condition yellow at most times. I paid close attention to the first video and counted 11, twice. The first run really amazed me as I was so focused on the task, I missed the obvious. On the second run, it was clearly visible and kicked myself hard for missing it the first time.
I will have to spend the rest of my day re-evaluating my situational awareness as it is not what I thought it was. There is always the outside possibility that I am still waking up but prefer not to use this as an excuse.
Excellent exercise. Thanks for posting it. I look forward to the rest of it.
I'm beginning to think that all this business of being intensly aware of our surroundings, being prepared, ready to go, is a form of vanity. We might be guilty of inflating our value as a potential target, just like we all think we're too fat. We fall for anything that makes us think we're doing something about the problem.
I liked the thing about hunting and awareness, yet even wild animals aren't as aware as all that and I swear a human wouldn't make as much noise as a deer walking around in the woods in the middle of the night. Of course, the deer don't talk to one another and people don't root around in the leaves. Still, I've had two foxes walk up to within ten yards of me in the woods. Not one but two. They weren't as attentive as all that. City foxes, I suppose.
And by the way, for all their reputation, Ninjis did not rule Japan, nor for that matter did samauri. And as for building a fort before going to sleep at night, that's what the Roman army did when they encamped for the night and some of them are still there.
I liked the thing about hunting and awareness, yet even wild animals aren't as aware as all that and I swear a human wouldn't make as much noise as a deer walking around in the woods in the middle of the night. Of course, the deer don't talk to one another and people don't root around in the leaves. Still, I've had two foxes walk up to within ten yards of me in the woods. Not one but two. They weren't as attentive as all that. City foxes, I suppose.
And by the way, for all their reputation, Ninjis did not rule Japan, nor for that matter did samauri. And as for building a fort before going to sleep at night, that's what the Roman army did when they encamped for the night and some of them are still there.
It doesn't take much at all to increase your situational awareness to a point that you could/should recognize a threat. All it really means is looking at/for people when you're out in public.
For example, when I'm standing in line at Wendey's waiting to order a chicken sandwich, I glance around the restauruant and look at the people in it. I look at the people in line in front of me and behind me. Every now and then, while I'm eating, I'll quickly survey everyone in the restaurant.
Example 2: When walking down a busy street, I look to see who else is walking; who is just lingering around and who is behind me. It's easy to spot "trouble", if you open your eyes and look. Trouble struts around like he is not trying to get from point "A" to point "B", but instead, eyeballs everyone else within his reach, sizing up the situation.
The problem is that many folks don't like to look at people. I don't know if this is shyness, or trying to avoid being threatening or nosey by specifically looking at a person or group of people. So, they lower their head and make sure not to make any eye-contact with strangers. Personally, I like to look at people. I don't do it in a threatening manner, but once in a blue moon I will get some punk who asks "what are you looking at". That's a tip-off that you spotted someone you should be looking at. I generally don't respond, unless I think it's going to gain me some kind of advantage....but, I don't stop looking.
For example, when I'm standing in line at Wendey's waiting to order a chicken sandwich, I glance around the restauruant and look at the people in it. I look at the people in line in front of me and behind me. Every now and then, while I'm eating, I'll quickly survey everyone in the restaurant.
Example 2: When walking down a busy street, I look to see who else is walking; who is just lingering around and who is behind me. It's easy to spot "trouble", if you open your eyes and look. Trouble struts around like he is not trying to get from point "A" to point "B", but instead, eyeballs everyone else within his reach, sizing up the situation.
The problem is that many folks don't like to look at people. I don't know if this is shyness, or trying to avoid being threatening or nosey by specifically looking at a person or group of people. So, they lower their head and make sure not to make any eye-contact with strangers. Personally, I like to look at people. I don't do it in a threatening manner, but once in a blue moon I will get some punk who asks "what are you looking at". That's a tip-off that you spotted someone you should be looking at. I generally don't respond, unless I think it's going to gain me some kind of advantage....but, I don't stop looking.
You don't have to pay attention to everything, you just have to pay attention to people paying attention to YOU.
I have been in a couple of scary situations, where I had to pull a firearm on people, and in every case I saw it coming a mile away. Be aware of who is close enough to do you harm, and profile. That shifty character with the sideways shuffle does not have a lame leg, he is trying to get close to you without you noticing. Or those two gangbangers giving each other the eye, and then look at you, they just decided to make you a target. When you do see that kind of behaviour, act right away, let them know that you are on to them, it may just discourage them to go pick an easier target. And if they don't go away, get in their face, act bold and aggressive, and if you have to, threaten them with bodily harm and/or start pulling out your ccw piece. The real bad guys in society do not like to call the popo and bring attention to themselves.
I have been in a couple of scary situations, where I had to pull a firearm on people, and in every case I saw it coming a mile away. Be aware of who is close enough to do you harm, and profile. That shifty character with the sideways shuffle does not have a lame leg, he is trying to get close to you without you noticing. Or those two gangbangers giving each other the eye, and then look at you, they just decided to make you a target. When you do see that kind of behaviour, act right away, let them know that you are on to them, it may just discourage them to go pick an easier target. And if they don't go away, get in their face, act bold and aggressive, and if you have to, threaten them with bodily harm and/or start pulling out your ccw piece. The real bad guys in society do not like to call the popo and bring attention to themselves.
I thought the last two posts were especially good. It seems we are socialized not to look at people, or at least not too closely. That is, when they can see you doing so. Part of that comes from the pretence of being too busy, too much in a hurry or too important to gaze on the unwashed. Besides, that's how you cope when you see homeless people on the street that you wouldn't give the time of day to.
Children do not have that inhibition, I think, and leave it to them to comment on the ridiculous things about other people that you are too polite to even think about. At the same time they probably wouldn't pick up on things that could be significant from a defensive posture perspective.
Sometimes this studied and careful ignoring of other people goes a little too far. According to the local paper, some man died on the subway in Washington, D.C., and rode around for something like five hours before someone noticed.
Children do not have that inhibition, I think, and leave it to them to comment on the ridiculous things about other people that you are too polite to even think about. At the same time they probably wouldn't pick up on things that could be significant from a defensive posture perspective.
Sometimes this studied and careful ignoring of other people goes a little too far. According to the local paper, some man died on the subway in Washington, D.C., and rode around for something like five hours before someone noticed.