How many times have you heard someone say “I’m not really interested in survival”, or “I’m not really into that”, or something similar?
It’s amazing to me that people can actually say that and expect it to sound sane. Think about the actual words… someone has just said that they’re not that interesting in staying alive. Isn’t that almost the definition of a pathology, of a pathological attitude or meme?
I’m not talking about obsession here, I’ve seen that more than a few times, and it’s a dark place. Still, we each of us face an uncertain future in very uncertain times. The last few generations of people living in the First World have been very, very lucky, but I know of no underlying principle that seems guaranteed to sustain that. We’re in the same position that Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, was when he first lamented how easy it had become for war to kill young, sheltered young Englishmen, except that now it’s much more of the world, and we’re far, far more sheltered and generally less capable than he, or pretty much any of our grandparents or great-grandparents could have imagined people ever becoming.
Nobody knows the future holds, but it is certain that the more specific the scenario the more likely it is to be wrong. Given that that is just the nature of life, it seems to me reasonable to take interest in enabling oneself, enhancing one’s capabilities and competencies in a general sense in several areas. That kind of general capability can increase our effectiveness in life in general, turn what might otherwise be emergencies into mere inconveniences, and very often prevent “survival situations” from ever occurring.
I’ve had that question asked of my myself, as have others… “have you ever had to use any of this stuff in an emergency?” Depending on the subject, the answer is often “no”… I needed it, I had it, so there was never an emergency.
– Robert the Wombat