Sheepdog Tip of the Day, During Combat tip 74
Most participants in close combat are literally frightened out of their wits. Once the arrows or bullets start flying, combatants stop thinking with the forebrain (that part of the brain which makes us human) and thought processes localize in the midbrain, or mammalian brain, which is the primitive part of the brain that is generally indistinguishable from that of an animal. It may be that in conflict situations this primitive, midbrain processing can be observed in a consistent trend toward resisting and avoiding the killing of one's own species. During territorial and mating battles, animals with antlers and horns slam together in a relatively harmless head-to-head fashion, rattlesnakes wrestle each other, and piranha fight their own kind with flicks of their tails, but against any other species these creatures unleash their horns, fangs and teeth without restraint. This is an essential survival mechanism, which prevents a species from destroying itself during territorial and mating rituals.
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Combat
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