Lessons In Survival

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Morgan analyzed the heartbeats of soldiers and sailors before they experienced major stress. Sure enough, the ones with metronomic heartbeats performed the best in survival school and underwater navigation testing. They also did the best in what's called close-quarters combat training. Morgan analyzed their heart rates right before they went into mock battle. They were all suited up in combat gear, waiting for a buzzer to ring that would send them running into a building to "kill" the enemy and rescue hostages. (They use "simunitions," simulated ammunition that hurts but doesn't cause real harm.) The ones with metronomic heartbeats, Morgan says, shoot more bad guys and kill fewer hostages. Unfortunately, this metronomic effect is usually associated with early heart disease and even sudden death. Morgan wonders whether the same thing that makes you really good at surviving under high stress may not translate into excellent heart health when you're 50. Without it, though, these elite forces might never even make it that far.

Sherwood is a journalist and executive director of TheSurvivorsClub.org . His new book is "The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life."

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Posted By: Struense @ 11/25/2009 8:34:46 AM

The newest SEALS about to face trial - charged in alleged assault of detainee

By Gidget Fuentes - Navy Times Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 24, 2009
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/11/UPnavy_seals_charged_112409w/
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Posted By: Struense @ 11/25/2009 8:28:55 AM

SEALs charged in alleged assault of detainee

By Gidget Fuentes - Navy Times Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 24, 2009 17:41:46 EST

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/11/UPnavy_seals_charged_112409w/
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Posted By: maskedfinancier @ 04/25/2009 9:49:42 PM

Excellent post, which gives the lie to lots of "emotional mastery" BS which says that everyone can learn to handle stress. They can't - some people are much better and some are much worse.
I work alot in the field of investing and once again this type of information is invaluable. People need to learn what their capacity for dealing with putting money at risk before doing it. Otherwise they are likely to get in over their head and get burnt - just like sending in a normal, volatile heartbeat GI in for a special forces mission.
I've written about the investing link in more detail at my Texas Holdem Investing blog.