Monday, October 24, 2022

The Rule of Threes

  • Three seconds of stupid can get you killed.
  • Three minutes without oxygen is likely to kill you.
  • Three hours of exposure to cold water, 40-degree-rain-and-wind or sub-zero weather is likely to kill you.
  • Three days without water can get you killed.
  • Three weeks without food in an extreme environment is likely to kill you.

Maslow's Hierarchy

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The more I ponder the hyper-inflation looming on the horizon, the more I realize that the consequences can be modeled as a retreat down Maslow's Hierarchy.

For those who are unfamiliar with the term "Maslow's Hierarchy", it is commonly taught in Psychology classes as THE way people are motivated. Maslow contends that humans are motivated by the most immediate need that is NOT fulfilled.

Preppers might experience an orderly retreat down the hierarchy. Plans have a way of falling apart when they get punched in the nose but the planning-process gives preppers a way of adapting to dynamic situations.

Non-preppers' retreat down Maslow's Hierarchy is likely to be a disorderly and catastrophic.

Don't be stupid

To avoid pulling a Wiley Coyote descent down Maslow's Hierarchy:

  • Don't be stupid
  • Don't hang out with stupid people
  • Don't play stupid games
  • Don't go stupid places
  • Don't say or write stupid things
  • Pull your head out of your nethermost orifice
  • Pull your nose out of your boss's nethermost orifice
  • Do a quick up-periscope outside your internet echo-chamber once in a while
  • Don't hyper-focus on distant threats. You are more likely to be off-ed by somebody who is 10 feet away than somebody who is 400 yards away.
  • Don't
  • Be
  • Stupid

8 comments:

  1. And nothing good is likely to happen to people out and about after midnight.

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  2. It is indeed unfortunate that quite a few people have been applying high quality lubricants to the axles of their wagons so they will be able to roll down Maslo's hierarchy faster. This would be very amusing to watch when it happens except that once their wagons hit bottom the survivors will put forth their best efforts to become our problem.

    Wilhem the Bedraggled

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed.
      If someone feels they have a right to dictate your decisions when life is going well, they'll surely expect you to sacrifice for them when life is going badly.

      Delete
  3. I recall that in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy hit New York and New Jersey 10 years ago the news and the web was full of stories of sophisticated urbanites reduced to Dumpster diving for food just a few days into the storm's aftermath.

    So much for self-actualization on a tall but narrowly based Maslow's pyramid.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "You are more likely to be off-ed by somebody who is 10 feet away than somebody who is 400 yards away."

    You haven't met any of the guys I hang out with, have you?

    ReplyDelete
  5. "Don't write or say stupid things" - this bears repeating in world where currently, everything is remembered (at least as long as the power is on).

    ReplyDelete
  6. John Farnam's Stupids:
    Don't go STUPID places, at STUPID times of day, to do STUPID things, with STUPID people.

    Don't look STUPID. Don't act STUPID.

    ReplyDelete

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