I finished reading Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales last night. I have really enjoyed some of this "pop" psychology stuff over the last few years. He is certainly not up with Gladwell (who he quotes at one point) but is very interesting. He is very fixated on his father's survival in a dramatic WWII bomber which fell out of the sky. The focus is understandable but he goes with it a little too much as the supporting evidence for so many of his ideas that its hard to buy the universal application he wants.
That being said, there were a number of compelling stories and ideas in his book. Most of all it made me think about how I react to high stress or emergency situations. I am at my best in making decisions if I can remain calm, not paralyzed into non-action, but cool enough to not overreact to the emotions of the situation and clear enough to undestand the gravity of the situation, not panic, and come up with a proper response. It sometimes seems annoying when a person in this situation is calm, however they seem to be the ones that can respond most effectively.
While his focus on survival dealth mostly with jungles, open seas, and prision camps I think some of this advice applies to many of the more delayed disasters in our life as well. He stressed the importance of planning but also being willing to adjut that plan based on the current reality. When we begin to vear off course we often start finding signals to conform the altered path with the intended plan. We can turn in unfamiliar rock into a "familiar" marking post on our planned path. Balancing our best plans and intentions with the changing reality is not easy but seems sensible in long term and short term "survival" sitations
On the scientific side of his research I like the idea of the mental and emotional mapping that we do. Our quick decisions are often based on instinct built from previous experiences. When placed in an ufamiliar sitatuion our limited experiences are often not prepared to guide us to the best responses. It's okay to seek advice and trust the experts. It's usually not okay to make tough decisions when your tired, stressed, and just want to get home as soon as possible. I had a great law professor that reminded the class to "never go into a negotiations on a full bladder"
Gonzales spoke a lot about his own passion, flying. There was a lot of balance between risk and reward. His advice is not to stay home and shelter ourselves; he sees value in pushing ourselves and the risks that often bring excitement. As I was reading, a recent conversation with an air traffic controller kept popping into my head. He was cool as a cucumber about sending jets in mid-flight on course only five hundered feet apart (he understands the panic of those who call in when they see such a "disaster) but also said "there are bold pilots and old pilots but no bold old pilots."
I guess we do our best to push ourselves to our limits without crossing a line of brazen boldness but even Gonzales had to acknowledge that his father's only explanation for survival when the other 9 men on his plane died was simply "I got lucky."
That being said, there were a number of compelling stories and ideas in his book. Most of all it made me think about how I react to high stress or emergency situations. I am at my best in making decisions if I can remain calm, not paralyzed into non-action, but cool enough to not overreact to the emotions of the situation and clear enough to undestand the gravity of the situation, not panic, and come up with a proper response. It sometimes seems annoying when a person in this situation is calm, however they seem to be the ones that can respond most effectively.
While his focus on survival dealth mostly with jungles, open seas, and prision camps I think some of this advice applies to many of the more delayed disasters in our life as well. He stressed the importance of planning but also being willing to adjut that plan based on the current reality. When we begin to vear off course we often start finding signals to conform the altered path with the intended plan. We can turn in unfamiliar rock into a "familiar" marking post on our planned path. Balancing our best plans and intentions with the changing reality is not easy but seems sensible in long term and short term "survival" sitations
On the scientific side of his research I like the idea of the mental and emotional mapping that we do. Our quick decisions are often based on instinct built from previous experiences. When placed in an ufamiliar sitatuion our limited experiences are often not prepared to guide us to the best responses. It's okay to seek advice and trust the experts. It's usually not okay to make tough decisions when your tired, stressed, and just want to get home as soon as possible. I had a great law professor that reminded the class to "never go into a negotiations on a full bladder"
Gonzales spoke a lot about his own passion, flying. There was a lot of balance between risk and reward. His advice is not to stay home and shelter ourselves; he sees value in pushing ourselves and the risks that often bring excitement. As I was reading, a recent conversation with an air traffic controller kept popping into my head. He was cool as a cucumber about sending jets in mid-flight on course only five hundered feet apart (he understands the panic of those who call in when they see such a "disaster) but also said "there are bold pilots and old pilots but no bold old pilots."
I guess we do our best to push ourselves to our limits without crossing a line of brazen boldness but even Gonzales had to acknowledge that his father's only explanation for survival when the other 9 men on his plane died was simply "I got lucky."
