Back to Awareness

From ancient times when we were hunters as well as prey, humans have used awareness as a basic survival tool. Like any other animal in the wild, we knew to scan a potential aggressor/mating competitor for size, speed, fangs/claws, aggressiveness - in short, conduct our little (real time) threat analysis.

As our world becomes more complex, challenging, and unfortunately more threatening, we cannot continue to go about our business as we once did, especially when the threat is terrorism, and furthermore the kind of terrorism that might come from within our own society. That is why we have to resort to using every skill, tool or technique available to enable us to distinguish between friend and foe and protect ourselves from the latter.

• If one of our most ancient and common tools is awareness, why must it be pointed out to us again and again?
• Do we make the best use of our sensory system?
• Are we conscious of all the information provided by our sensory system?
• Do we analyze that information and process it well enough to be used as an adequate warning/preventive tool?
• And last but not least: what should we pay attention to and be aware of?

As it happens, we do practice awareness in certain situations (such as in sports, beauty, sex appeal and other competitive areas for example noting who is in our path to promotion in the workplace). But most of the time we ignore the signs that have to do with our immediate well-being and security (illness symptoms, severe physical threats or the more common and imminent danger while in daily automotive traffic).

It almost seems second nature to ignore or disregard the bigger threats that we are too scared to confront (as if they'll just disappear if we ignore them long enough).

When dealing with a terror threat (as well as any other type of violent crime) our main problem is recognizing any hint or sign (since they might be scarce and almost undetectable) in time to help us avoid becoming a victim. A terrorist as well as most criminals do their best to maintain innocent cover and anonymity until it is absolutely necessary for them to reveal their identity.

In the democratic, multicultural society in which we live, we are taught to tolerate all sorts of behavior patterns and accept the fact that what seems bizarre or odd to one is a common practice or routine for someone else. This attitude might, however, cause us to confuse suspicious behavior with innocent, alien behavior. (But we should always remember that not everything that looks suspicious is in fact an unlawful act and avoid reacting to it in an irresponsible manner.)

One should be aware not only of human activity but also of objects left behind or placed where they shouldn't be or that simply seem out of place (for example, an awkwardly parked vehicle), or an unexpected delivery or messenger, an unknown or ambiguous sender of a package. When this sort of thing occurs it is essential to notify the correct person immediately, not leave it to someone else, because time could be of the essence.

In order to better know what signs to look for and be aware of, we must get acquainted with the criminal's or terrorist's MO and use that knowledge to help us improve our prevention practices.

Having said all that, we do have to remember that the terrorists who live among us (enjoying the virtues of a liberal democratic society and abusing our openness) have the advantage of witnessing first hand the debates, decisions and implementation of countermeasures and hence can easily alter or adapt new MO's. The best way of fighting terror is constantly and relentlessly going after the terrorist and criminals, to have them on the run and thus minimize their effectiveness.

SO, BE AWARE AND LET NO ONE BLIND OR DISTRACT YOU!

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