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Navy SEALs Recognize Anger More Quickly
LiveScience.com on yahoo ^ | 4/16/10 | Charles Q. Choi

Posted on 04/16/2010 1:34:04 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

The brains of elite soldiers can respond faster to signs of anger than normal, which could help them detect threats and make the difference between life and death when under fire.

The differences in the brains of those who excel in extreme circumstances are poorly understood. Such research might help improve military performance, explained neuroscientist Alan Simmons at the University of California at San Diego.

To investigate the brains of elite soldiers who face extreme circumstances all the time, psychiatrist Martin Paulus with Simmons and their colleagues scanned the brains of 11 off-duty members of the elite Navy SEALs (SEa, Air, and Land special forces) and 23 ordinary healthy men while they viewed faces that displayed either angry, fearful or happy expressions.

"Hopefully this research will help improve the understanding what makes SEALs so special," Simmons said. "They are highly resilient individuals, and if we could help other soldiers to become more resilient to the effects of stress, then that would be a very gratifying result."

The scientists found the insula, a region deep within the brain, activated more strongly in Navy SEALs when they saw angry faces than when compared to ordinary men.

"The insula is important for understanding your body sensations, or gut feelings," Simmons explained. "This suggests that when they see an angry face they do a 'gut check.' This may be because angry faces, but not fearful and happy faces, do require immediate attention for safety in combat."

When it came to happy or fearful faces, the brains of Navy SEALs reacted more slowly than non-SEALS.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: anger; navyseals; quickly; recognize; situationalawareness
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To: jacquej
I am just an elderly housewife, but can quickly “read” others. I was born with it unfortunately.

Are you a Bene Gesserit?


21 posted on 04/16/2010 2:31:07 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Am I correct that to be considered as a candidate to be a SEAL one must also have a very high IQ?

Well?..If high IQ people are quicker on other tasks, doesn’t it make sense that they would also be quicker and more accurate with reading the emotions of the people around them?


22 posted on 04/16/2010 2:33:58 PM PDT by wintertime
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To: NormsRevenge
There are three kinds of people in the world as an old general once said.

Sheep---sheepdogs---wolves. Seals are sheepdogs trained to protect the sheep from the wolves.

23 posted on 04/16/2010 2:34:17 PM PDT by Parmy
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To: RegulatorCountry
Hello R C.I never said it was infallible, but I think some types of people are better at reading body language then others.....Like the dog whisperer can spot a dog ready for aggression when others do not see the very subtle signs....

Nothing mysterious to me, just being alert to what the body says and not what the mouth says...

24 posted on 04/16/2010 2:37:58 PM PDT by goat granny
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To: DCPatriot

I don’t know about EVERYONE in the room, but if you carry a weapon, you need to take a few seconds to see the folks around you and where threats might be and how to react. More like “anyone” in the room. (I’ve heard it as “...but have a plan to kill anyone you meet.” Not bad advice really.

And not so much “jacked up”, just “heads up”. (As opposed to yapping on a cell phone all the time with NO IDEA of what is going on, like so many folks are).


25 posted on 04/16/2010 2:39:18 PM PDT by 21twelve ( UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES MY ARSE: "..now begin the work of remaking America."-Obama, 1/20/09)
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To: TChris
I too read Lone Survivor and was astonished. We are blessed that there are still people like that active in our country. The fact that there are old vets who train young kids to be SEALs amazed me. Whenever the time comes that there are not enough Americans who aspire to this kind of warrior elite, we are all going to be doomed.
26 posted on 04/16/2010 2:44:24 PM PDT by hellbender
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To: goat granny

Oh, I agree. Certain fields or even recreational pursuits are more conducive to maintaining an intimate connection to the “hair on the back of your neck” sort of instinctual awareness. Police, military, etcetera, even certain hunters.

I’ve just often been subject to a similar response from leftists, even back when I wasn’t political at all. That’s what I meant by not infallible.


27 posted on 04/16/2010 2:54:30 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: NormsRevenge
Situational Awareness - That’s what it used to be called.
I have a gun, if you have a gun or shifty look, I will use my gun first, because caskets cost money, and I want my money to go for retirement and beers, not neccesarily in that order.
28 posted on 04/16/2010 3:16:12 PM PDT by Waverunner ( "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." Voltaire)
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To: jacquej

I don’t know if the Seals have that ability but I remember hearing, years ago, that they had to go through quite an extensive re-programming before they were discharged from the service.


29 posted on 04/16/2010 4:41:27 PM PDT by RC2
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To: DCPatriot

Our military had to do that regularly when Iraq was nearly lawless.


30 posted on 04/16/2010 4:58:36 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (The US will not die with a whimper. It will die with thundering applause from the left.)
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To: NormsRevenge
If you're interested in the subject, a must read is Gladwell's book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

"Blink is about the first two seconds of looking--the decisive glance that knows in an instant. Gladwell, the best-selling author of The Tipping Point, campaigns for snap judgments and mind reading with a gift for translating research into splendid storytelling. Building his case with scenes from a marriage, heart attack triage, speed dating, choking on the golf course, selling cars, and military maneuvers, he persuades readers to think small and focus on the meaning of "thin slices" of behavior. The key is to rely on our "adaptive unconscious"--a 24/7 mental valet--that provides us with instant and sophisticated information to warn of danger, read a stranger, or react to a new idea."

"Gladwell includes caveats about leaping to conclusions: marketers can manipulate our first impressions, high arousal moments make us "mind blind," focusing on the wrong cue leaves us vulnerable to "the Warren Harding Effect" (i.e., voting for a handsome but hapless president). In a provocative chapter that exposes the "dark side of blink," he illuminates the failure of rapid cognition in the tragic stakeout and murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx. He underlines studies about autism, facial reading and cardio uptick to urge training that enhances high-stakes decision-making. In this brilliant, cage-rattling book, one can only wish for a thicker slice of Gladwell's ideas about what Blink Camp might look like." --Barbara Mackoff

31 posted on 04/16/2010 5:05:30 PM PDT by Daffynition ( In the span of one man's lifetime, only the individual has any potential - not the collective.)
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To: goat granny

Hi gg ...see my post above ... Gladwell calls it “thin-slicing.” Interesting stuff. ;)


32 posted on 04/16/2010 5:07:30 PM PDT by Daffynition ( In the span of one man's lifetime, only the individual has any potential - not the collective.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

That I could understand, but my mind first pictured a normal backyard barbecue or wedding.

How could anybody maintain that kind of alertness and awareness? Not a pleasant person to be around....LOL!


33 posted on 04/16/2010 5:13:13 PM PDT by DCPatriot ("It aint what you don't know that kills you. It's what you know that aint so" Theodore Sturgeon))
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To: NormsRevenge

So .. When will they be testing the ‘Rangers’!?


34 posted on 04/16/2010 6:07:03 PM PDT by plinyelder ("I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born." -- Ronald Reagan)
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To: plinyelder

bttt


35 posted on 04/16/2010 6:08:44 PM PDT by ConservativeMan55
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To: NormsRevenge

“The brains of elite soldiers can respond faster to signs of anger than normal,’

This makes no sense. Is “anger” a misspelling? Did the writer mean “danger?”

I don’t recall any mission where grunts had gone out looking for signs of “anger.”

Maybe he meant “hanger.” After flying around, elite soldiers look for the signs of a “hanger?”

Could it be “manger.” After elite soldiers walked the sheep to pasture and they got a drink at the river, they respond faster to signs showing the way to the “manger.”

Unconfuse me someone.


36 posted on 04/16/2010 6:35:33 PM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: DCPatriot

LOL! Just don’t make any sudden moves.


37 posted on 04/16/2010 7:07:20 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (The US will not die with a whimper. It will die with thundering applause from the left.)
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To: DCPatriot
I think that level of alertness is just second nature to those that work in life threating occupations....When not in a state that requires high alertness, its in the subconscious or back of the mind. Jumps into front of the mind faster than the average (if that makes sense to you)

Have a son that was navy and worked the flight deck of an Aircraft carrier...if your not alert your dead. You act on training and instinct without having to think what should I do... But the worse was night flight landings...scary as hell......

38 posted on 04/16/2010 8:21:19 PM PDT by goat granny
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To: Daffynition

Hi Daffy, thanks I am always looking for a good book...put that page in my favorites so I can order later...GG


39 posted on 04/16/2010 8:34:18 PM PDT by goat granny
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To: wintertime
*** Am I correct that to be considered as a candidate to be a SEAL one must also have a very high IQ? ***

No. There is no 'High IQ' requirement. In fact many would counter that all our Special Ops 'soldiers' have LOW IQs for the danger they put their own lives in every day. (that's a joke)

'series'. But just consider this:

To be a Navy SEAL or an Army 'Green Beret, you first must make the rank of E5 if an enlisted man. That in itself shows you have some leadership skills. And you must pass Jump School and go through many 'Specialty Schools'. Like in the Army's SF you must know another language -- which they will teach you -- in addition to all the other qualifications and tests you must pass, PLUS your main MOS (Military occupational Specialty). And at any step along the way you can 'flunk out', starting with Jump School.

We have a life long friend who was a career Soldier and retired after 30 years as a First Sergeant, E-8, and he almost made Sergeant Major, E-9. He spent most of that in the Special Forces. First in the 5th SF Group then in the 10th SF Group. He knows Four Languages -- Fluently. The only Army Language School he had to attend was for Russian(1). His 'main' MOS was 18E - Communication Sergeant and his secondary SF specialty was Engineer Sergeant, 18C (blowing stuff up). And while he was in the SF he also became a certified Army SCUBA Diver (kinda like an Army SEAL). He first enlisted at 17 and went to Vietnam near the end. And then 're-upped' and made the Army his home(2).

His only 'formal education' was as far as a Chicago High School but I'd wager his "IQ" is on 'the high side'. /s

Now Navy SEALS don't go through all the Schools like in the Army Special Forces as their mission objectives are different. SEALS are like Army Rangers on steroids (not a slam) but you can't be an idiot to be a SEAL, Ranger or Marine Force Recon (Any US Military Special Operation Force).

So no there's no 'High IQ Requirement' to be a SEAL.
But as you you can see: Idiots Need Not Apply

(1) He speaks English, German, Lithuanian and Russian
(2) He now the Mayor of a town in _____, that I cant name :-)

40 posted on 04/17/2010 4:26:24 AM PDT by Condor51 (SAT CONG!)
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