10-31-2011, 05:05 AM
I've noticed that there are some traits which seem to be more inborn, others which can be improved, and yet others which are only acquired by some people at great expense. Others never seem capable of learning those traits.
I've never had the opportunity to test myself in any significant way, but in watching hundreds of similar videos, I think that most people can improve their abilities to perceive danger and their place in space.
I seem to notice things that others never say anything about; deer in the brush by the road, coyotes skulking through the ditch, turtles sitting on logs or rocks that others never mention. Conversely, my wife would never notice those things, but sees shadow and light interplay and picks up certain nuances in conversations across rooms that I never see.
So situational awareness is more than the sense of incipient danger, which is what most of us would say defines it.
To answer your question, though, I would say that some aspects of situational awareness can be learned...how to spot trip lines, or notice disturbed ground, etc. Others, well some people seem to have a 6th sense.
I've never had the opportunity to test myself in any significant way, but in watching hundreds of similar videos, I think that most people can improve their abilities to perceive danger and their place in space.
I seem to notice things that others never say anything about; deer in the brush by the road, coyotes skulking through the ditch, turtles sitting on logs or rocks that others never mention. Conversely, my wife would never notice those things, but sees shadow and light interplay and picks up certain nuances in conversations across rooms that I never see.
So situational awareness is more than the sense of incipient danger, which is what most of us would say defines it.
To answer your question, though, I would say that some aspects of situational awareness can be learned...how to spot trip lines, or notice disturbed ground, etc. Others, well some people seem to have a 6th sense.
You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. - John Galt