Thread: A vision thing
View Single Post
Old September 22, 2010, 07:22 AM   #5
BlueTrain
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 26, 2005
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 6,141
I think other things happen as well, in the same way as so-called tunnel vision, which might make a difference in a high stress situation.

First, however, "high stress situation" is misleading as I am using the expression. I am referring to circumstances in which you are concentrating very hard. You begin to exlude other elements from your senses, like you don't hear other things or see other things. Mostly, that is. For some reason you might pick up on certain things, they way you notice only your own name from the paging system or something like that, which isn't to say you'd necessarily react correctly. That probably depends on your experience. The best example I can think of is driving a car at a very high speed, assuming here that you actually are putting your "all" into the effort. But I guess that's stressful in a way but stress isn't the same if you have full control of the situation (or think you do).

Another thing that seems to happen is that time slows down. Things happen in slow motion. I couldn't begin to explain it but no doubt the opposite happens when you aren't reacting fast enough and it seems like you can't move. Either way, I'm sure most people have had things happen like that, even if they weren't self-defense situations.

I have been in a few emergency situations but I couldn't guarantee I'd react the same way the next time if I was in the same situation again. You become conditioned to react a certain way (or not react at all) under given circumstances and it is very hard to overcome that. All training is a form of conditioning.
__________________
Shoot low, sheriff. They're riding Shetlands!
Underneath the starry flag, civilize 'em with a Krag,
and return us to our own beloved homes!
Buy War Bonds.
BlueTrain is offline  
 
Page generated in 0.02956 seconds with 8 queries