I read a pretty interesting commentary in the papers some time back. The writer talked about how he swat a fly one day and linked the insect’s behaviour to that of human reaction during times of danger or uncertainty. In short, he was sitting in a room one day and a fly flew into the room. Annoyed by the irritant, he decided to reach for the flyswatter. As he moved away from his seat, the fly chose to remain at a ledge and not move. Only when the writer came back with the swatter, the insect decided to make a dash for safety..by then it was history.

Similar, the writer related this episode to how humans react in times of danger. Usually, when the first sign of danger occurs, we tend to linger around either to find out what is happening or are just plain oblivious to the situation. Only when the danger escalates do we actually make a run for our lives.

I would say for the selected few, they will emerge as heroes by staying around and helping out. However, for most, they end up as part of the victim count. What will you do? Would it not be better by making a dash in signs of danger to safeguard oneself? However, this contradicts with our learnings. During our formative years, parents and teachers often preach of resilience and calmness in the face of storm highly desireable traits.

So do you fight or flight? Think about it :)

Labels: Psychology