Retired police captain kills texter in theater during movie trailer

[spin]

193. Interesting comment. I do use my subconscious mind in a manner that might surprise you. ...

Subconscious

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The subconscious and instinct

The subconscious mind is a composite of everything one sees, hears and any information the mind collects that it cannot otherwise consciously process to make meaningful sense. The conscious mind cannot always absorb disconnected information, as it would be an information overload, so the subconscious mind stores this information where it can be retrieved by the conscious mind when it needs to defend itself for survival (and for other reasons, such as solving puzzles).

The subconscious mind stores information that the conscious mind may not immediately process with full understanding, but it stores the information for later retrieval when ”recalled” by the conscious mind, or by an astute psychoanalyst who can draw out information stored in the subconscious, bringing it to the individual's conscious awareness.[7] This can especially be observed with heightened sensitivity of victims of violence and other crimes, where victims "felt something" "instinctually" about a person or situation, but failed to take action to avoid the situation, for whatever reason, be it embarrassment, self-denial or other reasons to ignore instinct, as they disregard internal warning signals....emphasis added

A precise example of the subconscious mind at work and related phenomena can be found in a book written by psychoanalyst Gavin De Becker, "The Gift of Fear". He describes how a victim "knew something was wrong", but initially discredited her own instinct/subconscious mind, opting instead to respond to the perceived threat in a normal, "socially acceptable" manner, completely ignoring that the subconscious mind tried to tell the conscious mind "that something is wrong." De Becker tapped into the mind of the victim regarding her "prior awareness by the subconscious mind that caused her to act instinctively" allowing her to realize that the perpetrator was going to kill her. The analyst brought her conscious mind to recognize how her subconscious was working on her conscious mind, by eliciting her original "inner thoughts/voice" through a series of events to which her subconscious mind ultimately drove her conscious mind to behave in such a manner as to protect her from being killed. Gavin was able to elicit her subconscious mind's recognition of a dangerous situation that compelled her conscious mind to act to save her through its basic survival instinct, bringing to the victim's conscious mind that it was the "subtle signal that warned her." The victim describes this as an unrecognized fear that drove her to act, still unaware consciously of precisely why she was afraid. Her conscious mind had heard the words, "I promise I won't hurt you, while her subconscious mind was calculating the situation much faster than the conscious mind could make sense out of WHY the fear was there. The victim stated that "the animal inside her took over."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subconscious

A Practical Guide to Situational Awareness
Security Weekly
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 2012 - 16:47
By Scott Stewart

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More Mindset than Skill

It is important to note that situational awareness -- being aware of one's surroundings and identifying potential threats and dangerous situations -- is more of a mindset than a hard skill. Because of this, situational awareness is not something that can be practiced only by highly trained government agents or specialized corporate security teams. Indeed, it can be exercised by anyone with the will and the discipline to do so. Situational awareness is not only important for recognizing terrorist threats, but it also serves to identify criminal behavior and other dangerous situations.

The primary element in establishing this mindset is first to recognize that threats exist. Ignorance or denial of a threat make a person's chances of quickly recognizing an emerging threat and avoiding it highly unlikely. Bad things do happen. Apathy, denial and complacency can be deadly.

A second important element of the proper mindset is understanding the need to take responsibility for one's own security. The resources of any government are finite and the authorities simply cannot be everywhere and cannot stop every potential terrorist attack or other criminal action. The same principle applies to private security at businesses or other institutions, like places of worship. Therefore, people need to look out for themselves and their neighbors.

Another important facet of this mindset is learning to trust your "gut" or intuition. Many times a person's subconscious can notice subtle signs of danger that the conscious mind has difficulty quantifying or articulating. I have interviewed many victims who experienced such feelings of danger prior to an incident but who chose to ignore them. Trusting your gut and avoiding a potentially dangerous situation may cause you a bit of inconvenience, but ignoring such feelings can lead to serious trouble.
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/practical-guide-situational-awareness

I actually started to practice situational awareness over 30 years ago when I learned of the technique from one of the highest ranked judo instructors in our nation, Ed Maley, who was teaching a judo class in Tampa which my daughter attended. He also offered a jujitsu class oriented toward self defense which I attended along with my wife and daughter. You can read about him at:
http://www.teddwebb.com/legends/prof_ed_maley.html

You might feel that practicing situational awareness shows that a person is unnecessarily paranoid. I will agree that the chance that you will be attacked tomorrow on a street is slim to none as violent crime in our society is approaching levels last seen in the 1960s. You may be not be attacked for the next five, ten or twenty years. But the odds show that you will have a good chance of being attacked by someone who can and will put you in the hospital or six feet under at least one time in your life. Situational awareness could enable you to avoid such an encounter.

I legally carry a concealed weapon and have for well over 20 years. That's my choice and your opinion is largely irrelevant to me. I have over 45 years of experience with shooting handguns and don't abuse alcohol or take mind altering drugs either legally prescribed by a doctor or illegal. I suffer no anger management problems and I realize that I am not a cop or a vigilante.

I doubt if I will ever have to use my legally concealed revolver for legitimate self defense but in the unlikely event that I am attacked by an individual who threatens my life or health, I will have it with me to use as a last resort to stop his attack.

I don't live in fear as many who oppose concealed carry and often oppose firearm ownership insist. Why should I? I am prepared and armed and have the skills and the means to defend myself if necessary.