# Can a person know for sure how'd they react in a life-or-death situation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727 "2015-07-10T02:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/41 "2015-07-13T08:21:35Z")
From my own experience? I will focus very narrowly on what my brain thinks is the most urgent action during a crisis, or a series of crises. My brain isn’t always very smart, though, and it may be that I prioritize badly, or I fail to see a larger picture that I ought to be reacting to. And even with massive background and experience and training, the scenario you’re presented with can and will hand you some new variable that throws you for a loop. Mr. Matata grew up with two general practioners in his household, and it was pretty routine for him to help when medical emergencies brought someone to his grandparents’ door in the middle of the night. He spent six years in the Army, including combat. He’s spent another two decades in law enforcement, with plenty of training in everything from tasers to first aid. He doesn’t panic… except when he does, like, say, when his wife goes into labor! Tony could have delivered a baby out by the side of the road, helping a stranger, but he’d have been useless when his own child was born. And that’s just the stuff you can’t predict. When Tony was in an on-duty car wreck, I heard more than a few of his colleagues’ wives talking about how they’d have reacted if it had been their husbands. I finally had to take one aside and assure her that I hoped she’d never learn it for herself, but no. She didn’t know. Like every other spouse of a deputy, or a firefighter, or a soldier, etc., she’s played the scenario in her head, but imagination and reality just don’t match up very well. ---
**Author:** ![Neverending\_Elbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e274bd/32.png) [@Neverending\_Elbow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neverending_Elbow)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/42 "2015-07-13T08:30:37Z")
Oh, I don’t know, why don’t you ask Lord Jim… But fiction aside, no, I don’t think you can really know. Perhaps there are some traits/qualities you can possess which tip probability towards some outcome, but absolute certainty? No. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/43 "2015-07-13T10:16:25Z")
Various experiences I’ve had (car accidents, first aid emergencies, building fire) have shown me that I can stay calm and rational in an emergency situation. My immediate reaction to a problem is to try and figure out how to solve it, or at least reduce the danger. It’s just the way my brain is wired. I’m not known for freezing up or panicking. So I know that whatever I did, I’d do with a relatively cool head. As to what I’d do, well that’s a different story and depends entirely on the situation. If a crazed gunman walked into my office, the me of my fantasies would have the guy disarmed, on the floor and waiting for the police within seconds. Probably while uttering a cool one liner. But I know that realistically, I’d probably end up hiding under a desk. But I’d at least be hiding under a desk in a very calm and rational way! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/44 "2015-07-13T12:43:27Z")
> [@The\_Angry\_Badger](#): > > As to what I’d do, well that’s a different story and depends entirely on the situation. If a crazed gunman walked into my office, the me of my fantasies would have the guy disarmed, on the floor and waiting for the police within seconds. Probably while uttering a cool one liner. But I know that realistically, I’d probably end up hiding under a desk. But I’d at least be hiding under a desk in a very calm and rational way! Actually, Badger, that’s what we have been trained NOT TO DO (I work for the US Army-civilian-and we get "Active Shooter’ training). First you run like hell to the nearest exit, second is to barricade behind a locked office door, third is shelter in place and last is, if directly in shooters’ location, negotiate or fight. It depends on training and experience. When I was young, a group I was with was the target of an attempted mugging in Panama. I saw the possibility and warned my colleagues to keep their eyes open, but when they made their ‘grab and run’ attempt, I didn’t react at all (they didn’t come after me since a) I made eye contact and that apparently warned them off and b) I’m 6/2" and 270lbs, so they went for the smaller guys). OTOH, when a man collapsed outside our office in what appeared to be a heart attack, I did everything right (told folks to call 9-11 and headed for the location, as I had had recent CPR training). Fortunately he had just passed out from illness and was OK, but at least I knew I was heading in the ‘right’ direction. So like most of the others have said, your reaction will depend on your training and experience and the type of emergency you are confronted with. IMHO as always. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/45 "2015-07-13T13:42:03Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Do you not think it possible to design a scenario - however improbable - that would escalate beyond your limit to control panic so abruptly and completely that it could overwhelm your discipline? If I picture something like being sealed in a metal box and tossed in the ocean, it seems like that could induce panic, but in that scenario there is no escape that I could fail to execute due to panic, so whether or when I would panic is immaterial. I don’t see it as discipline so much as common sense. Panic is unpleasant, distracting, and harmful. There is nothing good about it, and its only possible benefits could be to abdicate responsibility and force someone else to take action instead of you or to allow something you secretly want to happen happen while pretending it isn’t your fault. Refusing to take responsibility for your actions is self-defeating, so why do it? If you believe you “can’t” do something, you can’t. If you think you can, at least there is some possibility. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/46 "2015-07-13T14:16:49Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Only with very good, very specific training. > > Buzz Aldrin talked about how he and Armstrong were able to keep their wits about them during their moon walk. He said their training and simulations had been very intensive and well thought out. So they did exactly what they were trained to do. Had they gone outside what they had been prepared for, he said, it might have caused problems. > > I fly airplanes for a living. My training is also fairly intense and I’m confident I could handle most emergencies that might arise, so long as they were part of my training. Outside that, I have a better chance than a completely untrained person at handling an unforeseen “Apollo 13” style situation **in a flight environment.** > > But outside that? If someone pulled a gun on me, or I was on a sinking ship? I think I’d be as likely to act foolishly as anyone else. I’m not trained for those situations, and cannot predict how I would react. I’d like to hope I’d keep my head, but I once completely panicked when my cat got lost. Agree 100%; I’ve practiced emergency procedures hundreds of times, and found that when they came up (an engine out, loss of a system, etc.), I reacted as trained. One of the first things they teach you is to remain calm and analyze the situation…it’s very easy to want to rush things and HANDLE THAT EMERGENCYRIGHTNOW, and miss steps. And aviation training is done in simulators so that you are actually going through the emergency in very similar circumstances, so that if it happens, your brain isn’t struggling with how \*everything is so different \*when you’ve lost two engines. I also found that if I talked through emergencies with others, and we looked at the best way to handle them, it was easier to deal with them when they came up because you had a roadmap from the point of onset to resolution. Being able to say “Oh, the anti-icing went out AND the de-icing has gone out, and we are in mountainous terrain and can’t descend…what will I do?”, is easier if you’ve worked out contingencies. But a life-or-death situation I’ve never played out in my brain…it’s impossible to know how I would react; so far in difficult situations I’ve remain pretty calm, but it’s who knows how it’s going to go with a car that suddenly plunges into an icy river. Most of the time, people have a hard time accepting situations like that; they can’t believe that someone is shooting and they spend time wrapping their heads around it. Acceptance sometimes takes a few precious minutes. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/47 "2015-07-13T14:31:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > AnaMen, I’m not being snarky but are you speaking from personal experience of life-or-death situations? Panic isn’t always a case of running around and screaming. Some people panic by their brain freezing up and being unable to make decisions about what they should do in response to an emergency. > > It’s possible to will yourself to stand your ground when you feel like running. But you can’t readily will yourself to think of a good idea on how to handle a emergency. Especially if you only have a few seconds to think of the idea. I’d rather not get into any of the less-common scenarios, but isn’t it basically normal to have “life-or-death” situations come up from time if you drive a car? Have a child? Live somewhere with earthquakes/tornados/hurricanes? Operate a boat? Swim or surf? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/48 "2015-07-13T15:53:56Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > I’d rather not get into any of the less-common scenarios, but isn’t it basically normal to have “life-or-death” situations come up from time if you drive a car? Have a child? Live somewhere with earthquakes/tornados/hurricanes? Operate a boat? Swim or surf? I don’t know about normal. The usual risks are there, and bad stuff can happen fast, but not always. Have they happened to you? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/49 "2015-07-13T15:55:55Z")
**AnaMen** , I’m not being snarky but are you speaking from personal experience of life-or-death situations? ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/50 "2015-07-13T16:16:47Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > **AnaMen** , I’m not being snarky but are you speaking from personal experience of life-or-death situations? Yes, I thought I had answered that in the previous post. I have experienced the normal types of situations that arise in these modern times and some less-usual things that I’d rather not detail here. I’m not claiming to be some sort of hero, mind you. I just don’t panic, freeze up, or behave irrationally when things need to be done, and neither do most people. I wouldn’t tackle a gunman or charge into a burning building to save a stranger, as I weigh under a hundred pounds and have no special fighting skills or superhuman strength, so such actions would have little chance of success anyway. I’m not a great swimmer, so I probably could not save an adult from drowning, but I generally keep a lifeguard handy near water and would pressure them into doing it if needed. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/51 "2015-07-13T16:20:46Z")
I think a “life and death” situation is one where if you don’t act in the right way, you are probably going to end up dead. I have never experienced that, and I don’t think it’s normal for most people. If you are regularly experiencing life and death situations, then either you live an amazingly exciting life, or your judgment of risk is a little off. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/52 "2015-07-13T16:22:23Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Actually, Badger, that’s what we have been trained NOT TO DO (I work for the US Army-civilian-and we get "Active Shooter’ training). First you run like hell to the nearest exit, second is to barricade behind a locked office door, third is shelter in place and last is, if directly in shooters’ location, negotiate or fight. I never said I’d make the _right_ decision. 🙂 That, as you say, comes down to training. But I like to think I’d have a cool enough head to do something reasonable, if not actually correct. I was being a little flippant with the ‘hide under the desk’ thing. In my actual office now, if a shooter walked in, things wouldn’t look good for me - due to the layout, if I can see them, then they’re covering all my exits. To try to run would be to put myself right in the line of fire (at a distance of about 5 metres or so). My office has large windows, so he’d be able to see me too. My office is too small to be able to hide effectively, particularly if he knew I was there. Soo, it’d be fight or die. I think (but won’t know for sure - it’s quite possible that I’d just freeze for a second then just get shot) that if that happened, I’d dive to the floor, dodge behind the door and try to tackle him in the doorway as he tried to enter. Thankfully, the chances of that ever happening in this office are so low as to be negligible. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/53 "2015-07-13T16:23:45Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I think a “life and death” situation is one where if you don’t act in the right way, you are probably going to end up dead. I have never experienced that, and I don’t think it’s normal for most people. If you are regularly experiencing life and death situations, then either you live an amazingly exciting life, or your judgment of risk is a little off. Car accidents cause a lot of unplanned deaths, yet most of us drive or travel in cars often. My risk assessment is realistic. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/54 "2015-07-13T16:31:04Z")
> [@AnaMen](#): > > Car accidents cause a lot of unplanned deaths, yet most of us drive or travel in cars often. My risk assessment is realistic. Do you feel that driving to the store is a life and death situation, because there is a possibility you could be killed in a car crash? If that’s what you’re talking about, then sure, I know I’ll be calm in that situation too. I think life and death would be more like I turn the corner and there’s a semi truck coming straight at me in my lane at 60 mph. I have half a second to react before I’m splatted. Fortunately, I haven’t had that happen to me yet, and it hasn’t happened to most people. And if it does, I like to think I’ll quickly turn out of the way, but I can’t know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/55 "2015-07-13T16:41:30Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Do you feel that driving to the store is a life and death situation, because there is a possibility you could be killed in a car crash? If that’s what you’re talking about, then sure, I know I’ll be calm in that situation too. > > I think life and death would be more like I turn the corner and there’s a semi truck coming straight at me in my lane at 60 mph. I have half a second to react before I’m splatted. Fortunately, I haven’t had that happen to me yet, and it hasn’t happened to most people. And if it does, I like to think I’ll quickly turn out of the way, but I can’t know for sure. I would think most drivers had experienced driving situations where the wrong action would result in death. A tire blowout at a high speed or having to swerve to not hit a deer, for example. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/56 "2015-07-13T17:10:04Z")
Eh, you and I differ in what we consider life and death. No biggie. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/57 "2015-07-13T17:46:18Z")
Even under most circumstances I think it’s going to be rare for someone to run around screaming like their hair is on fire, but panic is based largely I think on a danger being extremely out of context to a situation. Gunman in a church or family entertainment venue, Piano falling from 60 stories up, plane crash in the park, 90 foot T-rex looking monster breathing radioactive fire on a rampage through the city. Those things I think it’s pretty safe to say you’d have to experience before you can say for sure whether or not you’ll freeze up while you try & make sense of what’s happening. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/58 "2015-07-13T17:55:41Z")
I’m not it’s a ‘one-size-fits-all’ category. I am not sure I could keep my head if if involved my children, but three years of volunteering in a hospital emergency room taught me to keep a cool head in a true emergency situation. You focus on your portion of the job - no matter how large or small - and trust those around you to do the same. I’m sure medical personnel can speak to this better than I can. But being a small part of a triage team on several occasions when victims from multi-car highway crashes or once when a roof collapsed on a church, taught me to react appropriately and efficiently at the moment and fall apart later when it was over. To this day, that’s still my response to crises. I started my career as a Health and Safety coordinator, responding to accidents in a manufacturing facility. That ER experience stood me in good stead. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/59 "2015-07-13T18:08:48Z")
I’ve heard there’s a primitive area of your brain stem that takes over in a panic situation (the lizard brain). In a way, it blocks your ability for conscious thought. You’ll react using your default programming rather than taking the time to think about the situation and come to a decision. If you’ve had training for that situation, those pathways in your brain allow you to react as you’ve been trained. But if you don’t have training, your brain can’t make a decision and will instead do something basic like freeze up, become hysterical, or flee. An example of this might be experienced triathletes who drown during the open-water swim. It happens every now-and-then. They get a splash of water in their nose or throat and they panic and drown. From an intellectual perspective they know what to do in that situation, but at that moment they can’t think and their primitive reaction takes over. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727/60 "2015-07-13T18:14:04Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Eh, you and I differ in what we consider life and death. No biggie. I’m talking about a situation like this: when my daughter was learning to drive and was operating the vehicle fine under normal conditions, I still did not trust that she would have the instinct to react correctly in an unexpected situation, so I always watched the road and scanned for problems even more intently than if I were driving myself. We were cruising along at 35 or so when a pedestrian stepped from behind a parked car directly into our path. Although I’d never have thought I could react so quickly, somehow my arm shot out and grabbed the wheel and we swerved neatly around them. She had not seen the person at all, so it is safe to say they’d have been a speed bump, but instead nothing happened. It was a non-event, an everyday (but hopefully not every day!) occurrence, but death was avoided. Isn’t this a relatively common situation? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-person-know-for-sure-howd-they-react-in-a-life-or-death-situation/724727.md?page=4)