Gut feeling-learned through training?

[HI express]

A similar thread was posted but I wanted to know from some of you folks that experience a "gut feeling" before a potential self-defense situation happens 1) what feeling is your alarm? and 2)have you listened to that warning feeling? and 3) what situation happened?

Do you think that your life's experiences have "taught" you to listen to those feelings or do you think that you can train these senses?

Obviously by the terms that I have used, I have a pain in my gut before things have happened.

A while back my wife and I had to get some things from a local drugstore when we got into the parking lot, I headed for the exiting driveway instead of parking in front of the store. About a block before we got to the parking lot I started getting that familiar pain in the gut. The closer we got to the parking lot the pain got worse. As we pulled out of the parking lot, we saw several police cars stop around the entrance to the store. The police officers came out with shotguns and moved carefully towards the store.

When I checked the local news a day later, the news story was that a man trying to rob the store was arrested on scene.

Lately, I have gotten that gut feeling when we have gone to visit my daughter at her dorm and I have delayed getting in the car to drive down to the college until I felt comfortable enough to start going to see her. Each time we have passed some really nasty car accidents on the freeway heading towards her school.

I am not sure if you can train to develop this sense to keep me out of as much trouble as possible. There have been times when I either didn't listen to the feeling or didn't get a clue when something happened.

What do you all think?

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

Wow, you have had some premonitions.

All I know is I listen to my gut before my head. It has gotten me out of some situations where I would not have preferred to be in. I've never really had premonitions, but when I get the feeling that something "isn't right" I act upon it.

I believe we have more "senses" than we know, and due to being "civilized" for so many years they have been ignored and unused. But they are still there..

 

[.abe]

I know what you're talking about, and have learned to listen to my instincts as well. I believe this sort of instinct is innate, but can go unused if it isn't "honed", or at least recognized by the individual. I believe it can be honed once you know you have it. In a nutshell: stay alert, and pay attention to your feelings.

My second year in college I kept my bike out in front of the dorms at the community rack. Mine was a relatively nice bike (Schwinn) but didn't stand out too much, and there were about 20 other bikes there at any given time. I did have a fancy soft-nose fork and the front wheel could come off without tools, so I had an extra length of cord that tied into the U-lock to secure the front wheel to the rest of the bike.

On occasion I would neglect to secure the front wheel as I did after a very busy Friday afternoon. With much more on my mind than sports at the time, I didn't realize that Saturday meant a home NCAA football game. The dorm, incidentally, was right across the street from the stadium (which meant this part of campus would get crowded with extras).

I woke up Saturday morning in a panic. I mean a real PANIC. There was a sense of urgency in my mind that was very pressing, and my stomache was uneasy, in knots. I KNEW that something was wrong. I think the "undescribable knowing" is a major component. I jumped out of bed (top bunk), raced out of my room and down the hallway to the stairs which had windows overlooking the bikes.

My bike was still there (all of it), and in one piece.

I was confused ... I knew something was wrong, but nothing was wrong. So I suppressed my feelings and went back to my room trying to convince myself that what I was feeling was wrong. I didn't see the need to lock up the front wheel now since it had survived the night and I was going to come back down in a while anyways to go to the library.

About an hour later I was ready to go and wouldn't you know it, my front wheel was missing.

I don't ignore that sense, or feeling anymore ... although it has never returned like it did that day. Perhaps I've just been fortunate to not find myself in any hot-spots since then. Any semblance of it though, and I take countermeasures to alter my location, situation, or cover my "assets" whatever the case may be.

 

[308win]

With premonitions this strong among other things you should start picking stocks for your retirement before you lose the gift. By the way, let me know what you are buying.

 

[sm]

Always trust your gut.

School of Hard Knocks Training Facility

-Elevators are Vertical Coffins.
-Parking Decks / Drive lanes are designed to Funnel one into Death Box areas.
-Door frames are for outlining death.
-Yelling "Help" is no guarantee - Picking up a trash can and repeated throwing , cussing, and being plumb nuts with a trash can - attracts LOTs of attention and BGs figure you are way more Nuts than they wanted to encounter in the first place.

Oh, and do offer to pay for the damn trash can, if the State is going to restrict my carrying concealed, they can damn sure buy another stupid trash can from my tax dollars - at least I know one damn thing my money went for and for what purpose it serves.

 

[V4Vendetta]

Those are some GOOD instincts you have. I have had feelings like that before. I was camping out one night & went to sleep in my sleeping bag. I woke later to feel something heavy on my chest. I figured a snake coiled on my body for warmth. I froze. Then I looked up slowly. It turned out to be my fat cat. I don't go camping anymore.

 

[NukemJim]

All I know is I listen to my gut before my head. It has gotten me out of some situations where I would not have preferred to be in. I've never really had premonitions, but when I get the feeling that something "isn't right" I act upon it.

+1

Got a "bad feeling" right before I got mugged when I saw the 2 guys across the street. Told myself I was being prejudiced and paranoid ( They were African American I am Caucasian )

I was neither.

Now I listen real hard to my gut

You might want to consider reading Gavin DeBeckers "Gift of Fear" It's wordy and he is (IMHO) a hypocrite ( not recomending guns for clients but supplying armed guards at the same time ) but it is an excellent intro to listening to your gut and avoiding possible problems while attempting to make realistic threat assesments.

And yes I do believe you can increase your sensitivity but it varies wildly from one person to another and from one enviorment to another ( IMHO ).

NukemJim

 

[Sheldon J]

Every time we eat at Pizza Hut

I get the chills. I am in condition red from the time I enter untill we leave and get in the PU. Don't know why just happens we always sit in the back, the wife knows I sit facing the front with right side in the open. Call it paranoid but it happens in every one I have ever been in.

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

Told myself I was being prejudiced and paranoid ( They were African American I am Caucasian )

Trap. Women have this trap too, review Ted Bundy. You cannot assume prejudice and paranoia. I have lived around black folks all my life. (more on the black reference later) I don't discriminate, period. We are all (human beings) prejudiced on some level.

If you "feel" the threat, it will come. Doesn't matter the attackers ethnic background.

BTW my fiancees very best friend is black (we're Caucs). She will cut you down SOOO fast if you use the words African-American.

 

[strambo]

+1 for DeBecker's "Gift of Fear" he describes this in detail. Basically, your "gut feeling" is cues your subconscious has picked up on. Your conscious mind is more accurate and analytical, but a lot slower. The gut feeling is the quickest way for your subconscious to alert you to take action to survive.

Yes, it can be honed and it has varying degrees of accuracy and can be misled. For example, if kids are told to be scared of certain individuals (insert race, religion, whatever here) then they would key on those characteristics and get a "gut feeling." This would be bad because something like color in itself isn't a valuable piece of information...and you would get "false alarms" so often you would be less likely to listen to your gut in the future.

After you get that feeling and you are out of the situation, look back and try to identify what your subconscious noticed. This will help hone your observation skills and your accuracy. It's like when the police interview crime victims and at first they say they don't remember anything out of the ordinary. Then they say for example; "well I did notice him looking at me funny." "Come to think of it, I wonder why he was in that elevator on the 2nd floor parking garage and not going to or from a car....it's like he was waiting..." -Yeah, he was waiting for a victim and you ignored your gut feeling because you would rather get into a box with someone your afraid of than offend them.

 

[Mannlicher]

to me, 'gut feeling' is an awarness that something is not right. Training can be a factor, but then common sense covers most situations.

 

[pax]

The thing is, the more you listen to your gut, the more boring your stories become -- and the more likely you are to doubt your gut the next time because nothing happened the last time.

Case in point. I was loading groceries into the car at nearly midnight one Friday night (this is not my preferred way to do things, but stuff happened and there I was). My car was perhaps 50 yards from the front door, or a bit more, laterally off to one side from the entrance.

The parking lot was nearly empty. My car was the only one for some distance in my row. The row on the far side of my car had two vehicles in it. The row closer to the store entrance had three or four cars, and each had a couple spaces on either side.

I had a lot of groceries, and was fitting them into the back seat. Nevertheless, I kept one eye on my surroundings, and so I noticed when two guys came out of the store. They stepped around the building away from me for just a couple minutes, then came walking casually my direction.

Something "felt wrong" about them. Now, later, I can tell you that there were several flags: they were walking like they didn't know each other, about 20 feet apart, but I had seen them come out of the store together. The way they ducked around the corner was furtive, not open -- and when they came out was when they started pretending not to be together. The paths they were walking meant that they would be on either side of me when they got to my row. And both of them had oh-so-casually glanced around the parking lot, toward the public road, and then back toward the entrance, as they walked.

I'd been half in/half out of the car loading groceries, and couldn't have gotten entirely into the car with the doors locked before they finished closing the distance. So all I really did was back out of the car before they got within 40 feet of me, stand up straight, look them both in the eye, and let them see that I saw them as they approached. I got my hands free, looked at their faces, and stood confidently. That was it.

They glanced at each other, one of them barely shrugged, and then they both veered off as if to head for another car at the other end of the lot.

That's the end of the story. Nothing happened. Even though, now I can articulate several things that made my hackles rise, at the time I just knew something felt wrong.

The more you listen to that little voice, the less stuff happens. Which is exactly the way you want it to be. But the less stuff happens, the more ridiculous & paranoid that little voice sounds. Gotta fight that...

pax

 

[HI express]

Hey Pax

Hey Pax,
At least if you listen to your gut feeling, the story might be boring, but you are around to tell it. Better for everyone around.

308?
Sorry, my gut feeling seems only to work (sometimes) for situations where I could possibly face a physically threatening situation, not any thing else. otherwise I would be trying out voice command e-mail instead of my seek and yee shall find method of writing e-mail.(trying to imply that I would be more cash rich than living in the very modest place that I reside in.)

Have a Happy New Year, you all.

 

[strambo]

Regarding Pax's story, I don't think you are less likely to listen to it the next time even though nothing happened IF you do a mental after action review like pax did. She looked back and determined what cues her subconscious picked up on to give her that feeling. This validates the feeling and tells you to listen next time as well because it wasn't a false alarm.

If you don't think about it after and determine the cues that set off your "spidey sense", then it might seem like you were just paranoid and you might not listen next time. Either way, being alert doesn't make for too many exciting stories...

 

[losangeles]

Wow, you've really acquired the "gut instinct" thing pretty good!

Like someone said, a lot of it is probably innate.

For me, I'd say personal experience can probably hone it best otherwise. I think that training is limited in comparison, because training by definition is contrived. Maybe if you put a really high-stress, total immersion environment that lasts for days if not weeks, it might be possible to contrive a realistic training that can hone instinct.

Someone who grows up in Compton or South Central LA, who sees people getting killed regularly, and sees muggings daily would be able to hone this instinct. I've gone through that early in my life (and now I'm thankful myself and my family live in a sheltered life) and can say that "total immersion" experience gives you more opportunity to develop that instinct.

 

[losangeles]

I realize most people here don't have that opportunity of growing up in a realistic setting. But you can contrive it, especially if you are young still. Live in the 'hood of a major city for a year or two, especially in a place you don't fit in, and maybe take the bus to school or work every day. Your senses will develop in this total immersion experience.

 

[V4Vendetta]

I had a similar incident several nights ago. The doors are all locked. My parents and me are sleeping. My dad hears the backdoor knob rattle like someone is turning it & then it stops. At first he thinks it's nothing. Then it starts again. He jumps up & turns on the backporch light. There's no one there. They had enough time to get away if there was anybody but he slept lightly the rest of the night.

Then a few nights later, the same thing happened to my mom. My room is farthest from the backdoor so I heard nothing on both occasions. We always keep our doors locked but my parents don't have guns. My dad in his youth used to be able to break cinder blocks with his hands if he wanted. I've seen him do it. But he has a bad back now & my mom couldn't beat up a bannana. In exactly 33 days I'll be 18. That same day I'm buying a shotgun.

 

[Mongo the Mutterer]

I realize most people here don't have that opportunity of growing up in a realistic setting. ... Your senses will develop in this total immersion experience.

Yep, not South Central but North St. Louis. Can't say it was much of an "opportunity" though. I appreciated the opportunity to get out!

 

[happy old sailor]

i dont know the "how" of it, but i damn well listen to that little voice in my head. crap happens when i dont, so, for many years i have been a dedicated listener. when my analytical concious mind says naaaah, i heed the voice and will continue to till the end.

 

[BHPshooter]

This was covered in my Psychology class last semester.

The body's sensory equipment is always on (unless disrupted by drugs, alcohol, etc.), but the brain can't make sense of the stimuli because it doesn't fit into the way the brain reasons -- so the brain basically tries to shake it off, usually by justification.

The one thing from that class I'll always remember is that "your body never lies."

Wes

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

I always have a minor suspicion of everyone when in public. I use my peripheral vision to its fullest capability and always keep an awareness of what's going on around me. I avoid close proximity with anyone I don't know but still remain polite. I extend a general courtesy to everyone but still keep my eye on their actions and demeanor. When walking in parking lots I always scan the scene. Even in my house I remain in condition yellow. I'm rarely in condition white. I always check out "little noises" around the house. I may seem paranoid to some but I consider myself prepared. I would call it paranoia if I were to become stressed over being in a certain condition. However I am completely relaxed in condition yellow, but unlike white I keep a plan of action in my head.

 

[Fun2Shoot]

Natural Radar

Most of my 'gut feelings' of danger, I would say come from learning from past experiences rather than from something beyond that. Life is good training if a person is willing to actually 'learn' and then change their behavior for the future.

 

[dasmi]

I get the chills. I am in condition red from the time I enter untill we leave and get in the PU. Don't know why just happens we always sit in the back, the wife knows I sit facing the front with right side in the open. Call it paranoid but it happens in every one I have ever been in.

You go into condition red because you're eating at Pizza Hut. My little brother, and little sister, have both worked for Pizza Hut, and believe me, you are feeling danger because of what you're about to eat

 

[V4Vendetta]

"My little brother, and little sister, have both worked for Pizza Hut, and believe me, you are feeling danger because of what you're about to eat."

What are you talking about? Do I even want to know?