Rule of Three

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TeeDee

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Nov 6, 2008
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The rule of Three's is often quoted as a general rule of thumb of reminders of what can extinguish life.

3 Seconds of Blind Panic
3 Minutes to purify water by boiling ( 1-3 Minutes depending upon elevation )
3 Minutes without Air
3 Hours in a extreme weather / Harsh environmental conditions
3 Days without drinkable water
3 Weeks without food
3 Months without Companionship ( I am wary/suspicious of this one )


And addition I heard the other day I thought is worthy of inclusion

3 Seconds without Panic setting in.


I have experienced blind panic a couple of times in my life , once hanging off a cliff face having a bit of a knee trembler at Dewerstone , once or twice with parachute shenanigans , and the other time when I was diving 40m down and realised I was out of air from my scuba tank -- faulty reg - sucking on air that wasn't there. ( Eyes W-I-D-E open. )

Fortunately - those have been fairly few and far between and ( touches head ) I've been both lucky and able to control that fear to do the right thing. Rather than panicking and wild kicking for the sea surface , taking a < micro > moment to realise what was going on , what would happen if I took option A as opposed to option B and scan around and fin to my swim buddy.

So those are offered as personal examples as more as a , Yes , I've had some near brown trouser times but fortunately kept calm enough to follow those repetitious training drills to " keep calm enough " ( and I think thats important - its not acting in the absence of fear but despite it? without fear in all things/scenarios I would think gets you placed on some sort of unpleasant spectrum) to do so allows one slow down time and act accordingly in a positive manner to self/rescue or rescue someone else - first aid trauma application.


So thats my thoughts - Interested what others think or have experienced , how fear can potentially close us down in terms of actions or how one can learn to resist it.

I should point out I'm more interested in the cerebral / mental aspect of this - I'm sure we have all experienced that moment when fear erupts and takes hold and we have a potential to resist it.


Additional question - do you have a natural or irrational fear? I once went on a walk with someone who felt very odd around jars or buttons. They couldn't explain it and I don't think they had to - the fact it existed for them was enough.


Does 3 secs without panic setting in make a useful inclusion to the rule of Three?
 
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I have a bit of difficulty with the whole stop, pause, think, act thing. Yes, there are times when it is, without doubt, the best reaction - but, we are still animals, and still rely on our reactions to survive in some situations. In those circumstances, 3 seconds could mean dead. So, it's not necessarily panic that causes us to act fast - panic only happens when we have too much time :)

Yep, I've had brown trouser moments, up a rock face, on the motorbike, even in the car, and sliding down a snow covered slope towards the cliff - they all relied on practiced action to deal with.
 
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I have a bit of difficulty with the whole stop, pause, think, act thing. Yes, there are times when it is, without doubt, the best reaction - but, we are still animals, and still rely on our reactions to survive in some situations. In those circumstances, 3 seconds could mean dead. So, it's not necessarily panic that causes us to act fast - panic only happens when we have too much time :)

Yep, I've had brown trouser moments, up a rock face, on the motorbike, even in the car, and sliding down a snow covered slope towards the cliff - they all relied on practiced action to deal with.

I'm not saying Fear itself is a bad thing - thats very much a useful ' *** ' type primitive radar response system we all have ingrained - I personally don't think having a 'fear' of Heights, Snakes and Spiders is fear at all - sounds like a pretty good base set of survival high risk items. I'd throw other things in there also - very enclosed tight spaces , large fires , and moving through areas in the pitch black ( where you may encounter some of the previous )

So Fear isn't a bad thing - its a warning of concern that can be a catalyst to action - if that action isn't constructive I guess it can lead to paralytic panic.

Gavin Becker wrote this book some time back and apparently its mandatory reading for FBI trainees - explaining how to better tap into that moment of fear that raises in our minds when dealing with others that sometimes we try to dispel rather than listen too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_Fear

"So, it's not necessarily panic that causes us to act fast - panic only happens when we have too much time " -Not sure if I agree with that. Trying to get my head around what you may mean and failing. Do you mind expanding upon it please.

I think there is a constant supply of examples of people making poor decisions when less time , not more is presented. More time tends to allow one to consider multiple variables and possible outcomes and act in a more calm/logical state of mind.

Happy to be disagreed with however - just need some examples or different wording.
 
When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was about another rule of three I learned from a scuba diver - if three silly little things go wrong early on in a dive or in dive prep, don't go ahead with it.

It's a superstition but I can see the wisdom in it. Like, you've misplaced a tool and almost dive without it... you pick up the wrong gas by mistake... You're feeling under the weather cus last nights dinner was off. You are not in the frame of mind to do a dangerous activity.
 
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The three seconds thing reminded me of getting lost in the woods at the Bushmoot, I didn't think about navigating in the dark when I pitched my tent. I got lost in no time at all and then more lost without stopping to think. Sobering reminder of those 'died in the jungle two meters from the path' stories.
 
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When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was about another rule of three I learned from a scuba diver - if three silly little things go wrong early on in a dive or in dive prep, don't go ahead with it.

It's a superstition but I can see the wisdom in it. Like, you've misplaced a tool and almost dive without it... you pick up the wrong gas by mistake... You're feeling under the weather cus last nights dinner was off. You are not in the frame of mind to do a dangerous activity.

I agree with that ,alarm goes off , get up , stub ones toe , < strike one > , sleepily put coffee granules in the cereal bowl on top of the shreddies < strike two > , find out you've put the T-shirt not just back to front , but inside out < strike three > - Best off calling it a duvet day and crawling back under the sheets.

Cut the day short before it escalates to something apocalyptic.
 
"So, it's not necessarily panic that causes us to act fast - panic only happens when we have too much time " -Not sure if I agree with that. Trying to get my head around what you may mean and failing. Do you mind expanding upon it please.

I think panic occurs when we have time for indecision; if things are really scary we often have to react instinctively or get hurt/die. When we have time to consider the consequences, many people panic, especially if they are not trained to deal with the situation. Of course panic takes hold at times when things are just stressful but not necessarily dangerous (I suspect stress and panic are bed fellows). My immediate thought process in those circumstances is 'have I been in a worse situation before?' - almost certainly (at my age) the answer is yes - the next question of course is 'was there a tomorrow?' and, so far the answer has been yes - panic over.
 
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Mmm... I think you're stretching it :) - rolling boil for two minutes; admittedly that's between 1 and 3.

But then, I was always taught the rule of 2 (not 3) for air, water, & food, because by the time you get to 3 you're beyond self recovery.
 
Mmm... I think you're stretching it :) - rolling boil for two minutes; admittedly that's between 1 and 3.

But then, I was always taught the rule of 2 (not 3) for air, water, & food, because by the time you get to 3 you're beyond self recovery.
Maybe stretching it a little to make it fit an easy/easier order to remember. .

Ahhhhh - you were clearly taught the abridged version. I wonder why. :)
 
I agree with that ,alarm goes off , get up , stub ones toe , < strike one > , sleepily put coffee granules in the cereal bowl on top of the shreddies < strike two > , find out you've put the T-shirt not just back to front , but inside out < strike three > - Best off calling it a duvet day and crawling back under the sheets.

Cut the day short before it escalates to something apocalyptic.
Based on that I would hardly ever make it to work :O_O:
 
The three second thing..

I think bit goes a bit deeper:

1) people who are just less likely to panic
2) people who can be trained to follow a response
3) people who will always revert to instinct
 
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When I saw the title of this thread I thought it was about another rule of three I learned from a scuba diver - if three silly little things go wrong early on in a dive or in dive prep, don't go ahead with it.

When I learned to dive the instructor told us about what he called the Cone of Death: when things start to go wrong, Stop. Otherwise you will likely end in a descending spiral of doom...
 
The three second thing..

I think bit goes a bit deeper:

1) people who are just less likely to panic
2) people who can be trained to follow a response
3) people who will always revert to instinct

Thats an interesting thought process and subdivision - and nicely is Three.....

1) People who are just less likely to panic.
Do you men the sort that are unphased , cool calm and collected? Or so distant from being aware they just arn't of much use anyway?



2) People who can be trained to follow a response
Can be done via stress inoculation and managing that adrenal dump from repeat drills and reinforcing positive response actions.




3) People who will always revert to instinct

Not sure what you mean by Instinct in context to this ? Isn't that just a repeat of 1????
 
1) Those who stay collected and functionally “present”. Able to respond effectively.

3) Instinctive flight of fight mode, no reasoning. Outright active panic, or the “lights are on but no one is home” passive panic. Plus they can switch between them.
 
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