Life threatening situations or danger

[Lark]

I read about some author, possibly karl jaspers, an existentialist who suggest that without life threatening or dangerous situations you couldnt really know anything about yourself, your true self, is that something you agree with or does it sound like a lot of hogwash? Is it different for men or women? Is it something which it is possible to capture in, say, extreme sports or a managed risk, or is it only something which you can experience or know by having survived something? Like buying a ticket for a train, missing the train and finding out that it had derailed killing everyone or being on the train and being one of the only people to walk away unharmed?

 

[prplchknz]

I think its true, because its to be like i'd be a total bad ass in such and such situation, but when it comes to the reality of it you're actually a pants wetting sniveling lunatic. at least thats what happens to me

 

[sprinkles]

I don't know if this is a thing as a rule but this sort of thing can lead to breaking constructed illusions, yes.

Edit:
I don't think danger is the only way to accomplish this, though. I also don't agree that it is necessary in the sense that it should be sanctioned, because that would defeat the whole purpose.

But as a thing that exists as a result of cause and effect, yeah I agree it breaks self illusions.

 

[UniqueMixture]

I believe to some extent it is a masculine quality as men tend to perform better than they would otherwise under moderate but manageable amounts of stress. trying to find source. in the meantime here is this:

http://www.wikigender.org/index.php/Gender_Differences_in_Responses_to_Stress

edit:

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/gender-stress.aspx

 

[Totenkindly]

I don't know if this is a thing as a rule but this sort of thing can lead to breaking constructed illusions, yes.

Edit:
I don't think danger is the only way to accomplish this, though. I also don't agree that it is necessary in the sense that it should be sanctioned, because that would defeat the whole purpose.

But as a thing that exists as a result of cause and effect, yeah I agree it breaks self illusions.

I agree that there are other ways to accomplish this. You can imagine wonderful things about yourself but until you actually have to suffer or make a sacrifice, you can't be sure. And adversity tests your limits.

 

[greenfairy]

We are part of nature, and the part of us which knows it continually searches for the connection. We've separated ourselves from the natural environment, where in order to survive we had to be tested against the elements and animals. In order to survive in nature we had to possess those qualities we think of as valuable, and now we have to create those situations in order to feel the same thing.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

One of the most interesting aspects of humans is how fluid their behavior is in response to crisis. The same person could become lost in mob mentality participating in murder or help stack sandbags to keep the river from flooding the neighbors. I suspect in crisis we are more likely to become everyone, anyone. It allows us to see that we can be a hero and a demon. I don't know if that is our true self. Perhaps in a way it is.

 

[Wolfie]

I agree that there are other ways to accomplish this. You can imagine wonderful things about yourself but until you actually have to suffer or make a sacrifice, you can't be sure. And adversity tests your limits.

^.

I don't think it has to be life-threatening or dangerous for you to undergo this transformation. At least not in the way we are defining those words, which I imagine is harm to your physical body.

 

[metalmommy]

I have been in a life threatening situation...guy had a gun pointed at my head. I can tell you from experience, those are super educational. I learned in that moment how I react to having my life threatened. For me, the reaction was purely instinctual. Believe me, if I had thought? Rationality would've indicated a different course of action than I took. However, the course I took was the right one for that particular situation.

 

[Tyrinth]

I should note that your avatar of a guy punching a shark in the face is strangely fitting for this thread, Lark.

That being said, on some level, I agree. I think it's going a little far to say you can't know yourself at all without one of these situations having taken place in your life. But I think that you will know yourself far better if you make it through one.

I don't think I've ever been in a truly life-threatening situation, but in dangerous situations I've noticed I tend to act differently than I think I would. It's like instinct takes over, and you get to know yourself on a different level that you can't really discover through simple introspection. It's really kind of interesting.

 

[metalmommy]

But I think that you will know yourself far better if you make it through one.

This is absolutely true.

 

[Lark]

I'm interested in how it could be a beneficial though.

Is it like a sort of "life gives you lemons, make lemonade" or that movie about the guy who got his arm trapped and sawed it off and made it home?

Or it about recognising your limits and adjusting to it with a comprehension that things you once believed, about safety or certainty, may have been false?

Is it the new appreciation for life and the present moment which I've heard people confronting illness or threats to their life can experience?

Or is it about realising what and who you are prepared to betray or what collaterol damage you could bare or live with in a sort of sophies choice kind of way?

For me it raises many questions.

 

[WALMART]

Fear does things to the body few experience regularly, and those that don't are in for it should it come knocking.


It's why special forces training consists of mock POW camps, being bound and thrown in water, and other unfavorable situations.


Special forces soldiers are shown to produce more of the hormone that returns the body to normal come a potentially fearful situation, more than the average infantryman, likely far beyond what the average human is capable of.



You know that white hot coldness that pits in your stomach? it's miserable, and lovely.

 

[metalmommy]

I'm interested in how it could be a beneficial though.

Is it like a sort of "life gives you lemons, make lemonade" or that movie about the guy who got his arm trapped and sawed it off and made it home?

Or it about recognising your limits and adjusting to it with a comprehension that things you once believed, about safety or certainty, may have been false?

Is it the new appreciation for life and the present moment which I've heard people confronting illness or threats to their life can experience?

Or is it about realising what and who you are prepared to betray or what collaterol damage you could bare or live with in a sort of sophies choice kind of way?

For me it raises many questions.

For me it was beneficial because I learned that I could handle myself in a true emergency. I learned that my instinctual self-preservation instinct kicks in before the paralyzing fear. That's huge to know. At least for me it is.