Another way of viewing this is through a Jungian perspective. We all have our dark sides. I've looked into my own dark side and it has no power over me. I find those who are too terrified to confront this in themselves are typically those who project their darkest images onto others in the vain attempt to free themselves of their own worst fears.
Funny thing is, I've still never had to confront a life-or-death decision.
Don't confuse the "Battle Shit" with fear. When you're body gets ready for a major fight, it involuntarily can 'relieve you of any excessive weight that might slow you down'. Totally natural.
I can regale you with my tale of self defense at some other, more private time. Suffice it to say, pulling a gun on a human isn't an easy thing for the mind to handle, but training will remove the barricades from doing so when necessary.
I can actually relate pretty well to Eric's post. When I was younger, I wrote off my pain tolerance and the way I coped with crisis situations as a result of growing up in a very abusive home. More recently, I've started to learn a lot more about what chemically goes on inside of people who are ADHD, like myself. A great deal of that seems to be tied to the same things that made it so easy for me to spend years as a fire fighter and a rodeo bullfighter (a.k.a. rodeo clown). What always struck me as odd in those situations was that I wasn't just focused, I actually felt more calm then than I ever did normally.
I never actually had any guilt over enjoying fighting when I practiced martial arts, because I recognized long ago that it was the way it made me feel that I really liked about it. The thing that I had a hard time realizing was how much that craving for adrenaline affected other areas of my life negatively.
"- about 2% of the population is able to kill without hesitation and without remorse. Half of those are clinically insane. But the other half are perfectly sane, and they're the ones who lead in battle. I suspect Eric is one of that 1%."
Does taking point every time make you insane or a leader?
'The answer to that question is, obviously, "Yes."'
Damn!
I was hoping it was insanity, but now that you mention it, I now see why it was every time I turned around some asshat was shooting at me or trying to stick me with a bayonet.
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All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
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JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/08/enjoying-fight.html (11 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
Another way of viewing this is through a Jungian perspective. We all have our dark sides. I've looked into my own dark side and it has no power over me. I find those who are too terrified to confront this in themselves are typically those who project their darkest images onto others in the vain attempt to free themselves of their own worst fears.
Funny thing is, I've still never had to confront a life-or-death decision.
Don't confuse the "Battle Shit" with fear. When you're body gets ready for a major fight, it involuntarily can 'relieve you of any excessive weight that might slow you down'. Totally natural.
I can regale you with my tale of self defense at some other, more private time. Suffice it to say, pulling a gun on a human isn't an easy thing for the mind to handle, but training will remove the barricades from doing so when necessary.
Grossman believes that Harris & Klebold were conditioned to kill at Columbine by video games. I'm not sure why anybody takes him seriously.
Viridian:
Just because someone is wrong about one thing does not mean they are wrong about everything, or even most things.
(Unless they're "Progressives"! ;))
Grossman makes convincing, well researched arguments right up to the final chapter of On Killing.
I've always thought of myself as a "Swordsmith" and not a "Swordmaster". Fortunately when the SHTF I do know a little bit about swords.
I can actually relate pretty well to Eric's post. When I was younger, I wrote off my pain tolerance and the way I coped with crisis situations as a result of growing up in a very abusive home. More recently, I've started to learn a lot more about what chemically goes on inside of people who are ADHD, like myself. A great deal of that seems to be tied to the same things that made it so easy for me to spend years as a fire fighter and a rodeo bullfighter (a.k.a. rodeo clown). What always struck me as odd in those situations was that I wasn't just focused, I actually felt more calm then than I ever did normally.
I never actually had any guilt over enjoying fighting when I practiced martial arts, because I recognized long ago that it was the way it made me feel that I really liked about it. The thing that I had a hard time realizing was how much that craving for adrenaline affected other areas of my life negatively.
The rush is simply like nothing you've ever experienced.
"- about 2% of the population is able to kill without hesitation and without remorse. Half of those are clinically insane. But the other half are perfectly sane, and they're the ones who lead in battle. I suspect Eric is one of that 1%."
Does taking point every time make you insane or a leader?
The answer to that question is, obviously, "Yes."
I like to fight, but I love to win.
'The answer to that question is, obviously, "Yes."'
Damn!
I was hoping it was insanity, but now that you mention it, I now see why it was every time I turned around some asshat was shooting at me or trying to stick me with a bayonet.
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>