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by chasfm11
Sat Mar 07, 2020 9:15 am
Forum: General Texas CHL Discussion
Topic: Situational Awareness--Not Always Easy
Replies: 7
Views: 16155

Re: Situational Awareness--Not Always Easy

Excaliber wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:30 am
chasfm11 wrote: Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:07 am My dog was attacked by a pit bull coming at full speed. My after incident analysis suggests that I had about 2 seconds to pick up the dog from the time that he would have been first visible until he grabbed my dog. I never saw him coming. Part of it was because he came from a house where I didn't even know that a pit bull was visiting. It is hard to pick up on things that we don't expect. Second, while I always scan around me while I'm walking with my dog because we are on a public street and i want to know in advance when cars are coming, it is impossible to see a 360 view around me every second. Even with my head on a swivel, it takes a second or two to complete a full sweep. Lastly, in a crowded environment like a Wal-Mart, the audible cues that you might get in a more remote setting are lost in the background noise of the crowd and the poor acoustics of the building. While the echo rate in a Wal-Mart is never going to rival a concert hall, it is enough to have each generated sound bounce a few times, increasing the overall noise level. For me, sound is a big part of perception. Even with significant hearing loss, I depend on what I hear as much as what I see for insight into what is happening. Wal-Marts are the worst of the worst for figuring that out.
Getting used to listening to your spidey sense is an important part of situational awareness. Your subconscious often picks up on danger before your conscious mind does, and learning to do an immediate visual sweep of your surroundings when you get that little tingle can help keep you from getting surprised at close range.
My spidey sense has helped me more times than I can count. But it doesn't always work, as in the case of the pit bull. I've read "The Gift of Fear" and tried to take the lessons from it. I submit that in the OP, the spidey sense is probably not going to work but perhaps I underestimate it in other people.
by chasfm11
Sat Mar 07, 2020 8:07 am
Forum: General Texas CHL Discussion
Topic: Situational Awareness--Not Always Easy
Replies: 7
Views: 16155

Re: Situational Awareness--Not Always Easy

My dog was attacked by a pit bull coming at full speed. My after incident analysis suggests that I had about 2 seconds to pick up the dog from the time that he would have been first visible until he grabbed my dog. I never saw him coming. Part of it was because he came from a house where I didn't even know that a pit bull was visiting. It is hard to pick up on things that we don't expect. Second, while I always scan around me while I'm walking with my dog because we are on a public street and i want to know in advance when cars are coming, it is impossible to see a 360 view around me every second. Even with my head on a swivel, it takes a second or two to complete a full sweep. Lastly, in a crowded environment like a Wal-Mart, the audible cues that you might get in a more remote setting are lost in the background noise of the crowd and the poor acoustics of the building. While the echo rate in a Wal-Mart is never going to rival a concert hall, it is enough to have each generated sound bounce a few times, increasing the overall noise level. For me, sound is a big part of perception. Even with significant hearing loss, I depend on what I hear as much as what I see for insight into what is happening. Wal-Marts are the worst of the worst for figuring that out.

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