{"id":5159,"date":"2017-12-06T15:41:50","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T15:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/?p=5159"},"modified":"2021-03-31T14:49:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T14:49:00","slug":"situational-blindness-mark-hatmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/2017\/12\/06\/situational-blindness-mark-hatmaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Situational Blindness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Always Be Aware<\/h4>\nLee Child once said, \"The only fights you truly win are the ones you don't have.\" With this in mind, along with the fact that crime is a product of opportunity, we go a long way towards being masters of self-defense<\/a> when we simply deny any potential threat as many opportunities as possible by changing our behavior.\n\nFormer CIA operative, Jason Hanson, says that the number one tip he can offer for making anyone and everyone a bit more like Jason Bourne in the modern world, is simply this\u2013 \"always be aware of your surroundings.<\/em><\/strong>\"\n
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Don't Be Blindsided<\/h4>\nEasier said than done, right? Well, he goes a bit further by offering what he considers the number one concrete tactic to becoming aware of your surroundings \u2014 don't use a smartphone.<\/em> That's it.\n\nHe says spy-craft prohibits the use of smartphones not just because of the tracking potential, but because they encourage absorption \u2014 a retreat from where you are to someplace else.\n\nHe points to the numerous instances of car crashes related to smartphone use, but says that even that observation does not go far enough. He has cataloged an impressive list of incidences where victims were chosen simply because they were acting like animals at the watering hole with their heads down, unaware and blind to their surroundings.\n\nLest anyone think that the use of the word \"blind\"<\/em> goes too far, he backs up this contention with copious examples of security camera footage of people being blindsided in all sorts of public surroundings simply because their eyes were glued to their phones.\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

Real World Examples<\/h4>\nTwo astonishing examples come to mind. In the first example, a bar is robbed at gunpoint. The predator actually stands next to our smartphone user during the robbery. The smartphone user moves down a seat as if courteously giving the man next to him room.\n\nHe never looks up from the screen. When the police arrive after the robbery, the smartphone user has nothing to offer in assistance because he had no idea the robbery had even taken place.\n\nThe second example was sent to me some time back. A man boards a bus in San Francisco and the camera shows EVERY other passenger with their faces glued to screens. The newest rider pulls a gun and brandishes it and no one notices.\n\nThe predator looks confused, puts the gun away, seems to think for a moment, and then pulls it out again. This time he uses it. The precious window of time to react to avert a tragedy had been missed.\n\nIf \u2014 if<\/em> \u2014 we think, \"Well, I'm not that way. I'm perfectly aware of my surroundings even while I use this marvel of technology,\"<\/em> we are going against all the science surrounding the brain's executive function. We simply do not multi-task well.\n
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Our Perspective Of
Time Is Skewed<\/h4>\nIn a recent study of \"time loss perception,\" smartphone users were monitored while they periodically checked their phones in a casual dining experience. They were being timed by observers on the scene unbeknownst to them.\n\nWhen approached and asked how long they thought their interaction with the phone had lasted, they all underestimated the duration of their interactions with their phones by 80%.<\/strong> That is, they (we) have no idea how long our attention is actually lost \u2014 or for how long we are essentially blind. Being blind to our dinner companions is one thing, but being blind to predators with guns<\/a> is another thing entirely.\n\nSince even highly trained spy personnel are told to drop the smartphone, do you think we, the lesser-trained citizens of the world, will be any less resistant to its temptations?\n\n[dfads params='groups=292&limit=1&orderby=random']\n

Try This (If You Can...)<\/h4>\n
\n\t<\/div>\nI offer a drill for those brave enough to survive without electronics for a day. Dock the phone and be awake in the day. Be aware. Shoot for a week, particularly if you found the exercise uncomfortable.\n\nI will say, it speaks volumes to the power of these devices that often when I offer some clients drills such as complete 500 burpees in the course of a single day or some other such physically taxing challenge, more often than not people step-up.\n\nHowever, when this \"wean yourself from the electronic teat drill\" is offered, the failure rate is far, far higher. Why is that?\nI believe that the reason that this occurs is because we have become incredibly<\/em> dependent on technology to get us through the day.\n\nIt has gotten so bad that we feel naked if we leave the house without our precious phones. This level of dependency is incredibly unhealthy and makes us less aware of our surroundings.\n
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Final Thoughts<\/h4>\nIn short, we can't have it both ways. We can't be prepared operators in the world who claim to value awareness and self-protection while simultaneously checking every ping and chime that comes from our electronic shackles.\n\nOperational professionals and animals that are aware don't text and don't surf the web outside of the home. It's either a flip phone which is, well, only a phone or no phone at all. So, ask yourself, are you aware?<\/strong> If you're reading this on your phone and you are not at home, Mr. Hanson and I would both say you most definitely are not.\n

\n Click here for more training by Mark Hatmaker!<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Always Be Aware Lee Child once said, “The only fights you truly win are the ones you don’t have.” With this in mind, along with the fact that crime is a product of opportunity, we go a long way towards being masters of self-defense when we simply deny any potential threat as many opportunities as Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,7,10],"tags":[39,140,164],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12768,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions\/12768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fightfastvideos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}