Sheepdog Tip of the Day, During Combat tip 22
Let's take a look at perseveration, a phenomenon we first learned about from studying fires in crowded theaters and nightclubs in the early and mid-1900s. In many of these tragic incidents, people rushed to the door and hit the crash bar, but the door was locked. Now, after a couple of tries on the bar, a rational human being would go to another door, but these individuals were not rational. The midbrain had taken over, the one that operates like a puppy's. Now the puppy was in charge, barking at these terrified people to hit the bar again. So they did, trapped in an endless do-loop, over and over, until they died. Gary Klugiewicz calls this "tactical fixation." We fixate on the tactic we are doing and do not consider other possibilities.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Combat
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Additional Resources
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