Deer in the Headlights?

490516072_f5e5a91808_n_3I have long held a theory that, when presented with a situation that is completely and totally out of the ordinary, a human being’s mind will not immediately see it or process it. It turns out, science has proven me correct. Have you ever been driving down the freeway and someone ahead is going the wrong way? Chances are, your first thought isn’t “Holy monkey! Someone is going the wrong way and I should move!” but more along the lines of “There is no way that’s a car going the wrong way…”

Of course, that’s providing you actually had time to grasp and process a situation. We’ll get to that in a moment, though.

Science has actually found that there is a measurable difference between the time that your eyes see something and when your brain actually “sees” it. Basically, you’re living 1/10 of a second in the past. Everything you’re seeing has already happened. As a side note: scientists have been throwing out a hypothesis that the déjà vu feeling is a result of that disconnect between the eyes and the brain. Some of the signals get scrambled a bit, a scene is reprocessed and the next thing you know, “I’ve been here before”. Yes…you have…about 1/10 of a second ago.

The question remains: If you’re living 1/10 of a second in the past, how are you able to catch thrown items or drive your car or hit a moving clay target on the skeet range? Believe it or not…or believe it because it’s true…your brain is amazingly good at predicting the future.

As you may have learned in school, the main part of your brain is made up of 2 distinct parts: The cerebrum and the cerebellum (there’s also the brain stem and a bunch of glands and such but we’re not concerned with those at the moment). The large part, called the cerebrum, is you. It’s your thoughts, your memories, your personality and everything you know. The cerebellum, on the other hand, is what keeps you alive. It manages all the things that you don’t think about. Imagine if you had to seriously stop and think your way through every action like breathing, balancing, swallowing, digesting and everything else. Personally, with my attention span, I would have died a long time ago if I had to concentrate my way through all of that.

NIA_human_brain_drawing_3Ultimately, the cerebellum is amazingly efficient at processing data quickly. The cerebrum can churn through data all day and come to an informed conclusion where the cerebellum looks at data, runs it through a quick and simple flow chart and then reacts quickly. In other words, the cerebellum handles your reflexes. When you accidentally grab a hot pan, the cerebellum will process the data from your nerves and react far faster than your cerebrum ever could. It bases its actions off a combination of natural instinct as well as past experiences. Experiments have shown that our hands are long out of danger before the big part of the brain can even think of the word “ouch”. We move and react before we even realize we’ve moved and reacted! The cerebellum is borderline psychic!

The cerebellum is also quite stupid. It can easily be fooled and, because it’s working off a very simple set of “if/then statements”, it sometimes reacts poorly. Ever touched something really cold but your hand jerks back as though you touched a red hot surface? Ever flinched at a moving object that was nowhere near hitting you? Ever dodged a giant, glowing green meteor that was flying straight at you?

Chances are, you said no to that last one. Therein lies the rub. With certain exceptions, the cerebellum tends to only react to situations it’s encountered before. It’s part of the growing process. It’s what our childhoods are about. It’s why we practice things (remember that guide about muscle memory? That’s cerebellum training). That’s one of the theories behind the “deer in the headlights” effect that many experience in times of danger. The cerebellum, which should be quickly screaming at your body “RUN!” doesn’t know what to do. The cerebrum, which takes time to process and asses, hasn’t completely kicked in yet and because of the gap between the processing time, bam, you’re road kill.

Side Note: There’s another interesting tidbit concerning the relationship between our minds and our eyes: the brain only “sees” a fraction of the data our eyes actually bring in. The cerebellum is very good at filtering out junk data that isn’t useful at any given moment….up to a point. This inability to process every bit of data is the basis for every optical illusion you have ever or will ever see.

All this scientific mumbo jumbo is meant, in the context of this article, to explain one thing: why do we freeze?

Part of it is, of course, plain old panic. We see a life or death situation and the fight or flight instinct just doesn’t kick in right away. Another part, which I mentioned earlier, is that disconnect. The reflexes have no idea what to do so the body waits on the big brain. The big brain gets bogged down in details like “What’s going on? Where should I run to? To the left or to the right? What kind of shelter should I look for? Will this affect my family?” when all it should be is saying “RUN!”

So what can we do to make sure we don’t freeze when our lives are on the line? Preparation is always key. Look at the area you’re in. I know what kind of natural disasters are likely to happen here in Florida: hurricane, tornado, flood and fire. Fortunately, we usually have pretty good warning with 2 of those (3, depending on the kind of fire). There’s also the off chance of robbery and riot. While there is a major fault line that runs through Tallahassee, an earthquake over in my area is unlikely. So there’s some blanket/default plans I can keep in mind that, no matter what, will at least get me moving. Something like “get to my car and figure out what to do from there” or “gather my family and find shelter”. Those simple guidelines can cover about 90% of any instant problems I can think of for where I am.

The more situations you can prepare for, the less likely you will be to freeze up when the time comes. This can even work, according to many psychologists, if you just imagine yourself in the situations on multiple occasions. So daydream: it could save your life.

I can hear you saying now “but Noob, what if I’m in a situation and I’m already frozen up? Am I just doomed then?”

Depending on the situation, there’s still a chance. Let me hear your battle cry! Go on, louder! Believe it or not…and I have to stop saying that when it comes to true things….but the battle cry isn’t there to show the enemy how tough you are. Science has shown that it has a profound effect on the person yelling as well. A good, guttural, full power yell can start adrenaline pumping. It can clear and focus the mind. Most of all, it can keep you from freezing and snap you out of a freeze. Not only that, but it can affect allies around you.

General George Patton was absolutely right when he said “Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired… You’ve always got to make the mind take over and keep going.”

Keep a clear mind. Keep your mind focused. Don’t forget your battle cry.

Main image used under Creative Commons license from Lee Coursey.


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