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Fiction in Survival TrainingThe trouble with survival is most of us |
Experts in any field, be it medicine or bushcraft, keep repeating the same message to anyone who seeks the benefit of there expertise. Usually with an almost exasperated tone, they will tell the undergrad or chechako, “you need to practice”, and usually follow this with a criticism of “book learning”. The trouble with survival is most of us will never get the chance to really practice it. We can practice certain skills, such as fire lighting or various splinting techniques, but the actual experience of panic, pain, and fear that are the core of a survival situation and also the hardest part to overcome simply cannot be practiced outside of the context of life threatening danger. And only a maniac deliberately walks deep into the January forest with half a paper match and no one to bail him out.
I'm not an expert, and so I will not give the experts mantra. When it comes to facing death, there is another way to prepare that is much more pleasant than losing a digit. Though the sourdough is right about most skills when he gives that classic advice, I suggest the opposite in this case. I suggest you sit down in a comfy chair and lose yourself in a good book. I mean it when I say a good book. Dry essays like this one aren't going to help you when the left side of your brain has just soiled its drawers and curled up like a fetus. Get something that charges your adrenaline or makes you squirm at the protagonist's pain. If it is real enough to feel it, it has done its job.
Reading a story can help you survive. There is a reason there are so many published every year, and a reason we, as humans, want to read them, hear them, or watch them. Stories allow us to experience the world vicariously, and in doing so, to learn about it. When it comes to the panic, pain, and fear of a survival situation this is the safest way to do it.
It works. Stories also provide us with a model of behaviour. This can make fiction a more effective teacher than nonfiction, but of course there is a danger there too. A piece of fiction written untruthfully is as potentially dangerous as a false medical textbook when taken too seriously, so be critical of your hero. In real life, is would his actions be considered lunatic? The right hero, however, can lead you through a potentially mind crippling situation. Sounds ridiculous? Think what you will, but I bet Frodo Baggins and his kind have led more stranded people to safety than the best survival manual.
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