Freeze
Yesterday, a newly elected Arizona representative was shot in Tucson by a 22-year-old shooter. The shooter killed 6 people and injured a dozen more. As the shooter fled the scene after killing and injuring several people, he was tackled to the ground by a bystander.
A man with a gun puts bullets into 18 people, then runs away. If you saw that, what would you do?
They've done studies about this, and apparently, only a small portion of people would tackle the shooter. It's very low...around 2%. Fortunately, I've never been in that situation, so I don't know how I'd react. Most of us don't know for sure what we'd do, because you can't know unless you've faced that particular scenario.
In the face of danger, most of us freeze. Instinctually, that's what our limbic systems have evolved to do. We cease all movement, and hope the danger passes. We only resort to flight or fight if that doesn't work.
I've been told that in some respects, I'm more of a risk taker than other people, particularly in terms of career. Considering that I got an accounting degree and am now working as a programmer, I don't completely agree with this opinion.
What I do think, though, is that we are each willing to take risks in different respects, and we have different levels of tolerance we can stand for each one. Me, I got an accounting degree because I thought that the safest thing to do was to pick a steady career, work at a steady pace for many years, and retire to live off of savings.
Given the economy of the past five years, I'm no longer convinced this is the wisest course of action. Does it make sense to stay at the same job for a couple of decades? Does it make sense to take a job at a very large company? Do we just find somewhere to fit in, keep still, and hope no one sees us?
Does this sound safe to you?
Life isn't quite as dramatic as it is on television, but time to time, we all see the waters start to churn in our own lives. Threats rear their ugly heads, and we try to combat them by becoming their opposite. Maybe if we hold still, they'll pass us by and we can live another day. I think, in the face of chaos, that more of us should be embracing it, and learning to live life on life's terms, because turbulence is inevitable.
Freeze!
A man with a gun puts bullets into 18 people, then runs away. If you saw that, what would you do?
They've done studies about this, and apparently, only a small portion of people would tackle the shooter. It's very low...around 2%. Fortunately, I've never been in that situation, so I don't know how I'd react. Most of us don't know for sure what we'd do, because you can't know unless you've faced that particular scenario.
In the face of danger, most of us freeze. Instinctually, that's what our limbic systems have evolved to do. We cease all movement, and hope the danger passes. We only resort to flight or fight if that doesn't work.
I've been told that in some respects, I'm more of a risk taker than other people, particularly in terms of career. Considering that I got an accounting degree and am now working as a programmer, I don't completely agree with this opinion.
What I do think, though, is that we are each willing to take risks in different respects, and we have different levels of tolerance we can stand for each one. Me, I got an accounting degree because I thought that the safest thing to do was to pick a steady career, work at a steady pace for many years, and retire to live off of savings.
Given the economy of the past five years, I'm no longer convinced this is the wisest course of action. Does it make sense to stay at the same job for a couple of decades? Does it make sense to take a job at a very large company? Do we just find somewhere to fit in, keep still, and hope no one sees us?
Does this sound safe to you?
Life isn't quite as dramatic as it is on television, but time to time, we all see the waters start to churn in our own lives. Threats rear their ugly heads, and we try to combat them by becoming their opposite. Maybe if we hold still, they'll pass us by and we can live another day. I think, in the face of chaos, that more of us should be embracing it, and learning to live life on life's terms, because turbulence is inevitable.
Freeze!