Book: The Gift of Fear
Jun. 15th, 2008 10:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
narcasseI’ve been reading The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker this weekend having picked it up out of curiosity at what might constitute the books touted warning signals that serve as early indicators of threat. And it’s actually proven a rather compelling read. It lists various indicators of potential hostile interaction and highlights those through examples, as well as examining why those indicators arise and what responses may provoke or negate their potential threat. Specific scenarios are examined like workplace altercations or domestic violence and so on. The entire book, all four hundred pages or so, really is quite an informative read because when the explanations are laid out the chain of logic is quite clear whether that logic be an explanation of why something might occur or how it might be prevented.
At the most basic level this is a book about human interaction though in this case it is directed in particular towards indicators of violence. It gives a general framework for understanding human nature which is obvious when plotted out but easy enough to overlook when cause and effect isn’t the focus.
I laughed a few times while reading, at one or two statements that were exactly there to provoke that response, to make the reader realise just how ludicrous some things are and I smiled at the reinforcing of the fact that all human beings are not so different from each other in what they seek to do. Perhaps this isn’t a book for someone who is convinced that the world can be divided between monsters who are born inherently evil and the rest of the population because these people will presumably be of the opinion that whatever it is; it couldn’t happen to them anyway. But I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in assessing their own threat awareness and who is curious enough to see how the whole process works when broken down into logical stages. And I’m highly tempted to photocopy the chapters on people who refuse to let go and date-stalking to send to at least one friend.
At the most basic level this is a book about human interaction though in this case it is directed in particular towards indicators of violence. It gives a general framework for understanding human nature which is obvious when plotted out but easy enough to overlook when cause and effect isn’t the focus.
I laughed a few times while reading, at one or two statements that were exactly there to provoke that response, to make the reader realise just how ludicrous some things are and I smiled at the reinforcing of the fact that all human beings are not so different from each other in what they seek to do. Perhaps this isn’t a book for someone who is convinced that the world can be divided between monsters who are born inherently evil and the rest of the population because these people will presumably be of the opinion that whatever it is; it couldn’t happen to them anyway. But I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in assessing their own threat awareness and who is curious enough to see how the whole process works when broken down into logical stages. And I’m highly tempted to photocopy the chapters on people who refuse to let go and date-stalking to send to at least one friend.