Developing Your Sixth Sense...your "Gut" How?

[Doctorr Fabulous]

Hypervigilance IS bad for your noggin, because it doesn't have an "off" switch. Two guys re-shingling a roof? Boom, instant range estimation, scan for weapons/comm gear, and start searching for other people. Car backfires in the distance? Guys start reaching for rifles that they don't have, or everyone does the owl-head-spin and ducks a little bit.

Vigilance is one thing. PTSD is mostly unrelated, and over diagnosed (no really, DOD studies show that many diagnosis' of PTSD were actually blast wave trauma or brain trauma) but it's a wide and difficult to define disorder. hell, I usually tell people I have PTSD, just so I don't have to explain what "hyper-vigilance with a failure to adapt and resynchronize" is. Regardless, part of the deprogramming cycle (for me) was to develop baselines in the civilian settings that my brain could identify as "safe" or at least "not a combat zone" and therefore use those as a subconscious signal to relax out of red/orange and into orange/yellow. Actually, fuck the color codes (I hate them, they're vagueish.)

Example: Guys on a rooftop are normally a "damn, mo-fo's wanna play" signal, wherein the aforementioned range estimation and 'game plan' begin to form. However, with lots of stress counseling (Go Navy!) my brain has learned to recognize that the suspenders, hardhats, and Western style building mean that I'm not in a combat zone, and that I should investigate more if I feel threatened before trying to call in a Hellfire. All this is mostly subconscious now, but it used to be a very concentrated effort each time.

Now for the part that runs germane to the discussion: the only way to train yourself to 'sense' danger early is to do the opposite of what I did. Run around in a forced heightened state of alert, actively searching for threats. Eventually, it becomes second nature. That's all the "lizard brain" senses really are, it's your subconscious self-preservation programming forcing your body to move before your conscious brain figures out what's going on. Reflex actions. beyond that, the whole "hackles stood up" or "it felt wrong" was described by most of my leadership as laziness, to wit, they were seeing the signs of danger, but had grown complacent and didn't actively recognize them.

Just my 2 cents.

[TripleThreat]

I suspect I'm simply not a good fit for this community in general. That's ok, sometimes it happens. Lots of things I could say, but will simply say thanks to the Staff here for allowing me to be a guest on site. I've learned a lot by reading many post and generally wish everyone well. If a legitimate PAW occurs, I wish all people here and their loved ones, safe passage and safe harbor from the coming storm. Thank you.

[Chantrea]

TripleThreat, I believe you have been here long enough to know that taking swipes at anyone's political views or affiliations doesn't fly here.

Please consider this a friendly reminder to all to keep your opinions about how all those <insert point on the political spectrum that you dislike> people are ruining our culture with their stupidness and nefariousness to yourself. ZS holds ample evidence that a) there's plenty of smart people focused on preparedness and b) plenty of stupid people on ALL points of the spectrum. So let's follow the no politics and no hate rules, shall we?

If anyone has any questions or concerns about this policy, as always, I welcome your PMs or you can PM any of the moderators. Thanks for your cooperation.

[ashleigh11]

i think one of the best lessons of situational awareness i learned is from an episode of NYPD Blue. sipowicz was showing andy jr. how a cop thinks and he told him, know the "people, places, the things they do, and the times they do them" on his beat. (Season 3, Episode 18).

it's just as important to see the normal as well as the abnormal, to give you a normal frame of reference.

[wee drop o' bush]

For me it has always been noticing when something and/or someone looks out of place. Don't ask me what the correct 'place' is because I probably couldn't tell you, it's an ingrained habit.

[DarkAxel]

I think people are confusing situational awareness for gut feelings. Situational awareness lets you know when something looks or sounds wrong. A gut feeling is a feeling that something is wrong even if everything looks OK.

Like Doc Torr said, hyper-vigilance will fuck you of long term, that's why I think we developed the instinct, or gut feelings. They let us know when it's time to amp up or awareness to hyper-vigilance. I think it's genetically hard-wired behavior that we've grown unaccustomed to using thanks to modern advances in the sciences, and short of being thrown into a do or die, life or death situation, I can't think of a way it can be tapped at will.

[kaligaran]

Great thread!

About 10 years or so ago I took a general self defense course at theh local community college for fun. It was taught by the cities SWAT team instructor. Many of the things he mentioned were simple things you can do day to day that will not only increase your awareness but also work as a deterent.

For example, when you are walking outside, say from the grocery store to your car. Notice the people around you. If you make eye contact, that's fine but keep it brief. Don't walk near cars or corners, walk away from them and look when you walk past. As you approach your car, pay attention to what's around it, anyone sitting in a car, what's under your car, etc. Don't have to look paranoid, just keep your head up and eyes open.
Not only does this make you aware, it also exudes confidence and potential bad guys are looking for someone who's not paying attention and ideally hasn't seen them (the instructor claimed that making brief eye contact means you could identify a potential attacker which is a deterent in most cases - don't know how true this is but it makes sense to me).

After that class I started following this advise. It's amazing to just watch people on a day to day basis and see so many people that are oblivious to their surroundings. People digging in their bag for their keys, texting on their phones as they walk, or looking at the ground as they walk, etc.
I don't think people realize how much they do this. I think most people, myself included, will still catch themselves doing this from time to time.

[duodecima]

I think people are confusing situational awareness for gut feelings. Situational awareness lets you know when something looks or sounds wrong. A gut feeling is a feeling that something is wrong even if everything looks OK.

I'd agree. My situational awareness is highly variable (altho I second the recomendation to spend some time by yourself in the woods or something, to learn how to hear stuff, it's amazingly noisy out there...) but my "gut instincts" I think are pretty good.

I think the gut instinct can be developed, or at least encouraged/nurtured - mostly just by assuming you HAVE one - and listening for it. One of the best things my mom did for me as a kid was NOT to blow me off if I didn't like something/somebody, especially if I couldn't say why I didn't. I try to do the same thing. It's not always right, but when you gut instinct rings an alarm, you get in the habit of ramping the situational awareness right up to figure out why. I don't experience it as a voice, just a feeling, but like the senses of taste&smell, I can easily believe it's different for different folks.

makes mental note to get "Gift of Fear" since it's been so universally recommended by folks who otherwise don't agree on much...

[Able1]

Not to be flip, but join the service and select a combat arms MOS. Get deployed.

Or, sign on with a police department with some not so nice neighborhoods to patrol. Even just signing on as a reserve or whatever will give you a better idea of how to keep your head on a swivel when everyone around you considers you to be the bad guy.

Practice s/a as a lifestyle. Live your life the way some professionals in the above mentioned professions do. Always on guard, always looking for the threats, checking for exits, being paranoid. It's a difficult skill to develop without proper motivation (ie: people who are actually out to do you harm) being thrown in the mix. Unfortunately, experience is definitely the best teacher for the types of lessons you are looking to learn.

ETA: can't go wrong with "be polite, be courteous, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet".

AMEN...

[RickOShea]

For me it has always been noticing when something and/or someone looks out of place. Don't ask me what the correct 'place' is because I probably couldn't tell you, it's an ingrained habit.

Kinda like pron?......"I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."

[wee drop o' bush]

For me it has always been noticing when something and/or someone looks out of place. Don't ask me what the correct 'place' is because I probably couldn't tell you, it's an ingrained habit.

Kinda like pron?......"I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."

I must admit I never quite saw the connection before but...

[Neville]

I think people are confusing situational awareness for gut feelings. Situational awareness lets you know when something looks or sounds wrong. A gut feeling is a feeling that something is wrong even if everything looks OK.

Like Doc Torr said, hyper-vigilance will fuck you of long term, that's why I think we developed the instinct, or gut feelings. They let us know when it's time to amp up or awareness to hyper-vigilance. I think it's genetically hard-wired behavior that we've grown unaccustomed to using thanks to modern advances in the sciences, and short of being thrown into a do or die, life or death situation, I can't think of a way it can be tapped at will.

I agree, there is a difference between gut instinct and situational awareness. You can look around, open your ears, turn on your brain... and they are all telling you that everything is ok. Your gut, however, has gone on red alert and is telling you that even if you don't see it, don't hear it or can't remember it or figure it out... something bad is in the pipeline and you need to get on it NOW. Like I said, it may be some psychic sense that we haven't as yet figured out all the scientific rules for, or just a combination of very subtle cues that our conscious awareness, no matter how "aware" we are, didn't pick up on or connect together into something it could identify as a "threat". There are plenty of stories of people who just had a bad feeling about something and chose A when they were going for B, zigged when they would have zagged, or just stopped dead in their tracks, stepped aside, or took off on a flat out RUN FOR THEIR LIVES and couldn't have told you why they did that. And it saved their lives.

I've felt that impulse, and it's saved me from death or grievous injury more than once. If you've ever felt it, you know what I'm talking about.

[Spd164]

I agree, there is a difference between gut instinct and situational awareness. *snip*

You're missing the point, brotatoe. What some of us are saying is that "gut instinct" is your body being physiologically aware of a perceived threat even though you haven't processed the information that you have automatically observed yet. The point isn't to develop some magical sixth sense, it is to strengthen the link between your body's natural inclination to protect itself through observation (instinct) and your conscious decision making process. One you incorporate that heightened level of awareness into your OODA loop, you are starting to merge your instincts and your learned behaviors, resulting in even more effective situational awareness.

I guess what I'm trying to say is thy just because you didn't consciously realize you observed something, doesn't mean that you got sent a psychic message from a higher power. Your body observed the something, you just aren't self aware enough to process the information that's tickling the back of your neck or giving you that feeling in your stomach. Developing your gut instinct revolves around training yourself to figure out what caused these instinctual signals and eventually learn to process the information quickly enough that you identify what your body is observing immediately.

I feel like I'm not making much sense, but I'm having a hard time explaining what I mean. Sorry for that, I usually am pretty good at describing my point. Not so in this case I guess.

[Neville]

I agree, there is a difference between gut instinct and situational awareness. *snip*

You're missing the point, brotatoe. What some of us are saying is that "gut instinct" is your body being physiologically aware of a perceived threat even though you haven't processed the information that you have automatically observed yet. The point isn't to develop some magical sixth sense, it is to strengthen the link between your body's natural inclination to protect itself through observation (instinct) and your conscious decision making process. One you incorporate that heightened level of awareness into your OODA loop, you are starting to merge your instincts and your learned behaviors, resulting in even more effective situational awareness.

I guess what I'm trying to say is thy just because you didn't consciously realize you observed something, doesn't mean that you got sent a psychic message from a higher power. Your body observed the something, you just aren't self aware enough to process the information that's tickling the back of your neck or giving you that feeling in your stomach. Developing your gut instinct revolves around training yourself to figure out what caused these instinctual signals and eventually learn to process the information quickly enough that you identify what your body is observing immediately.

I feel like I'm not making much sense, but I'm having a hard time explaining what I mean. Sorry for that, I usually am pretty good at describing my point. Not so in this case I guess.

I'm not missing anything.

I know about situational awareness and OODA and all that, and will concede that there is merit in what you say. I'm also saying, there's something more at work. Go make a study of Jung. I don't mean, read a Reader's Digest version of his greatest hits, really make a study of Jung's work. Then I think we'll have enough common ground to extend the conversation further.

[Spd164]

I'm not missing anything.

I know about situational awareness and OODA and all that, and will concede that there is merit in what you say. I'm also saying, there's something more at work. Go make a study of Jung. I don't mean, read a Reader's Digest version of his greatest hits, really make a study of Jung's work. Then I think we'll have enough common ground to extend the conversation further.

And I'm agreeing with you duder. I'm not preaching situational awareness alone, in the commonly understood sense. What I'm saying is that your body picks up on danger signals which are not readily apparent to your conscious mind. In order to develop your "sixth sense" as the OP would like to do, one must find a way to strengthen the link between ones instinctual physiological reactions to unrealized cues, and ones conscious, higher level mind responsible for governing learned behavior (tactics) and reactions to those subtle cues.

You don't receive a psychic message that you are in imminent danger and break into a sprint because of that. Rather, your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin perceived something that your conscious mind could not process quickly enough to decipher, but that your animalistic brain instantaneously knew what to do with.

As far as studying up on Carl Jung...I may do that, but I'm pretty sure I get the just of what he was driving at with the individuation of the conscious and unconscious mind. It's kinda the point I've been trying to make all along, but with a respected historical figure to back it up and not some dumb, uneducated, knuckle-dragging, washed up, jarhead like me.

[wanderingwaldo]

The best books have read regarding increasing accuracy and intensity of esp signals are by ingo swann the CIA remote viewer and tom brown the survival instructor. You must work to reduce your ego's tendancy to label and how to listen to your heart. Esp is not situational awareness or subconscious functioning.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=ca ... w60OfH1XxQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIyEjh6ef_8

[Lycosa]

I remember reading a study a long time ago in college about cognitive abilities of tribal people who still lived in the wilderness. Their situational awareness was greatly enhanced from having to process abstract information. Being constantly exposed to less defined structures, as nothing in nature is particularly symmetrical or duplicated, they develop abilities which are far more keen than someone from a city. I wish I could recite the study, but it's been a long time ago now. Long story short.. games like 'Where's Waldo' or other abstract games can improve situational awareness. The more exposure your brain has had navigating through the abstract, the greater your situational awareness becomes. or.. some such shit like that.

[Zimmy]

Maybe just spend a lot of time watching people. Not the abstract movements as if they are a school of fish or pigeons in the park but as individuals.

Look for clues as to future behavior.

Why is she walking so fast? Does her body language match her facial expression? Is she pissed, exercising, or just on a tight schedule? Does anything suggest right, left, or straight at the end of the corridor and what is the tell? Fantasize why a certain action may happen and bounce reality off it when you have the answer.

The pissed off guy stalking around the bar. Is he really looking for attention or does he want to hit someone in general or specific? What tells does he have? Fast drinking for bravery or sipping because he's preoccupied with his inner demons? When he looked at his phone was he checking the time or did he punch a button or two looking for comms?

Remember the old pop quiz in elementary school? Which of these things doesn't belong? To exaggerate..Four tattooed up spanish guys in a car sitting outside a house outside their normal ethnic mix (gangbangers?). White guy and black guy in suit jackets in a sedan in the barrio (Cops?). Susie Q Homemaker walking stiffly down a sidewalk in a bad area. A junkie or pervy dude hanging around a schoolyard or park.

Could you be wrong? Absolutely. Is it ok to notice and adjust your mental preparation. Absolutely.

[RepoMan73]

I have often heard about how people have a "spidey" sense or they got a hunch that something was not quite right...and this may have saved their life or saved them a great deal of hardship.

Has anyone ever tried to develop their intuition or learned how to pay more attention to it?

I imagine with possible future marauding zombies it would greatly help if you could sense disturbances in the force that might increase your reaction time to harm coming your way.

You should read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It talks about how people use that "funny feeling" to their advantage. There is no silly talk about physic powers.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Gift-Fear-Gavin-Becker/dp/0440226198

I know that in my job the few times I ignored that feeling in my gut, things went sideways on me.

[wanderingwaldo]

You should read "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin de Becker. It talks about how people use that "funny feeling" to their advantage. There is no silly talk about physic powers.

Not silly. There is a great deal of evidence for non-local consciousness. If you want to know more, I recommend looking at Dr. Stuart Hameroff's research into mechanisms for quantum (non-local) consciousness.

Professor Mohamed Omar Salem also has an excellent discussion about the role the heart plays in consciousness:
http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/pdf/Heart,%20Mind%20and%20Spirit%20%20Mohamed%20Salem.pdf

[Karis]

ok I'll start with the situation then elaborate -take in mind this is quite the years back me and my brother were walking to the 7-Eleven to be quick we walk through the dirt lot (this is where the senses kick in) I this "shits going down " feeling a truck is passing marks is signal go left then goes right straight for us my little brother stalls i grab him we run back to the house later that night he ask me how did I know I responded with it just didn't feel right

at that moment my gut was telling me that shit was going to go down Wetherby luck or sixth sense
my mom had told me that my brother froze cause he was scared and that's the type of person he is an that I'm not that type . I always thought and still do think I just have a will to survive then again I have adhd or add and never been good at learning things so I rely on reflexes /instincts so that could help another thing try wide angled vision

[Recon101]

I get that funny feeling all the time. Personally I think it's just a subconscious sense that you develop through personal experience on subconscious awareness to what's "normal" in your environment. I grew up out in the boonies and after awhile if the house was quiet I could tell when a Bear was roaming around the property just by how silent the ambience outside got. Ever get that funny "someone is watching you feeling"? Also while on deployment I learned that by how the activity in the area was could mean something bad was in the works.

I rule it out as subconscious knowledge collected, databased, and stamped by the mind in the survival instincts/preservation of the self section.


"All typos brought to you by iPhone."

[crashin]

If you want to read more about your "gut" instinct in regards to decision making not just situation awareness you can check out a book called Blink .

http://www.amazon.com/Blink-The-Power-T ... ords=blink

[Gray Gator]

First hand experience and I'll share this with you............

When I was 17 had a double "s" turn near my home and at midnight the power went out watching SNL. I was lying on the floor and sat up and said "Bruce hit the pole". My father and I hopped in his 81 Mazda pick-up and went. We found my friend had in fact hit the pole and suffer minor injuries. Fast forward to age 25 my wife and I got married and My wife was finishing college and I was working for a lux car dealer and we working on our professions. We eloped, not that we had to but we wanted to get married and we had a long distance relationship for 9 months. She was in Wisconsin and I in Florida. We got married and returned our homestates. About a month later I was on edge and had a gut feeling I was needed in Wisconsin and something was not right. My manager picked up on this and pulled me in his office and asked. I got a leave of absent from my manager and told me to go north and come back with her. A month later we found my wife was pregnant with our son Devon. our son is 21 and We still reside in Wisconsin!

I can not predict things but I get a uneasy feeling something is needed or something happened. My wife can see it in me and lately this feeling more and more.

Just me,
Dan