Deep Survival

Several people in the comments to my last post expressed interest in the "how to not die in a crisis" part of Deep Survival, so I figured I'd make a separate post about that.

Most of the book consists of case studies of people in life-threatening crises (hikers stranded in the wilderness, sailors capsized along with their boat, plane crash victims), with discussion of what they did and why, in terms of both neurology and human social behavior, they did it. Some of them survived; some didn't. What's different about the ones who did? The last couple chapters of the book are a distilled version of everything that's gone before, with some conclusions -- so I'm doing nothing but skimming the surface of a fairly complex book in a really superficial fashion. I don't really have time to go into it in any depth - buy the book! *g* - but here are a few of the high points.

( Some of Gonzales's conclusions on how not to die )

Deep Survival

Several people in the comments to my last post expressed interest in the "how to not die in a crisis" part of Deep Survival, so I figured I'd make a separate post about that.

Most of the book consists of case studies of people in life-threatening crises (hikers stranded in the wilderness, sailors capsized along with their boat, plane crash victims), with discussion of what they did and why, in terms of both neurology and human social behavior, they did it. Some of them survived; some didn't. What's different about the ones who did? The last couple chapters of the book are a distilled version of everything that's gone before, with some conclusions -- so I'm doing nothing but skimming the surface of a fairly complex book in a really superficial fashion. I don't really have time to go into it in any depth - buy the book! *g* - but here are a few of the high points.

( Some of Gonzales's conclusions on how not to die )

This entry is also posted at http://friendshipper.dreamwidth.org/367253.html with comments.

Movie: Bon Cop Bad Cop

This movie was SO. VERY. CANADIAN.

Also ... if you have a problem watching police/law enforcement brutality on TV (which I sort of do) ... wow this is really not the movie for you. XD I enjoyed it a lot but I kept having to shut down the part of my brain that kept screaming BUT THEY CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THAT!

Having said that, it was a ridiculously fun movie, and I think the thing I loved most about it was the casual bilingualism - the way that the characters shifted between French and English, or lapsed into their native language (whichever it was) for idioms they couldn't remember how to say in the other one, or missed just enough of what the other person was saying for the conversation to derail itself. I guess it helps that, despite the fact that I don't remember enough of my high school French to make myself understood in even the most rudimentary fashion, I do still understand enough of it that I could get at least some of the basics in the movie (like the difference between the Ontario cop's European-French accent and the Québécois French that most of the characters were speaking).

This scene (link goes to Youtube) gives you an idea of what the whole movie is like, in terms of language -- and police brutality, and profanity (not work safe!). XD (Hey, I can curse in Québécois French now! Yay?)

Movie: Bon Cop Bad Cop

This movie was SO. VERY. CANADIAN.

Also ... if you have a problem watching police/law enforcement brutality on TV (which I sort of do) ... wow this is really not the movie for you. XD I enjoyed it a lot but I kept having to shut down the part of my brain that kept screaming BUT THEY CAN'T GET AWAY WITH THAT!

Having said that, it was a ridiculously fun movie, and I think the thing I loved most about it was the casual bilingualism - the way that the characters shifted between French and English, or lapsed into their native language (whichever it was) for idioms they couldn't remember how to say in the other one, or missed just enough of what the other person was saying for the conversation to derail itself. I guess it helps that, despite the fact that I don't remember enough of my high school French to make myself understood in even the most rudimentary fashion, I do still understand enough of it that I could get at least some of the basics in the movie (like the difference between the Ontario cop's European-French accent and the Québécois French that most of the characters were speaking).

This scene (link goes to Youtube) gives you an idea of what the whole movie is like, in terms of language -- and police brutality, and profanity (not work safe!). XD (Hey, I can curse in Québécois French now! Yay?)

This entry is also posted at http://friendshipper.dreamwidth.org/367442.html with comments.