Post by newflyer on Oct 8, 2015 19:52:40 GMT
1 - Antiauthority
While most of us don't like to admit it, at times we all act as if the rules don't apply to us. If you've ever found yourself cruising down the highway above the posted speed limit, hurrying to make it through a yellow traffic light, or rolling past a stop sign, then you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes it seems that the rules just don't apply in the particular circumstances, that they aren't that important, or that we can get away with disregarding them.
When we find ourselves breaking the rules like this, we usually have ways to rationalize our behavior. "There was no traffic, and I was in a hurry...nobody was coming...conditions were perfect...you know these roads were really designed for traveling at 70 miles an hour...." Occasionally, such lapses in judgment result in an accident, but even then we are likely to find extenuating circumstances that relieve us of responsibility, such as, "That guy just came out of nowhere," or, "There was a patch of ice on the road," or, "He wasn't using his turn signals."
The same thing can happen in an airplane. To save a few seconds of time, pilots sometimes abbreviate the traffic pattern or use non-standard entries, skip checklists, or fly closer to the clouds and in poorer weather conditions than legally allowed. They rationalize these deviations with similar arguments, including, "There was nobody else in the pattern," or, "I know the checklist by heart," or, "I've done this hundreds of times."
Psychological stressors are probably the most common cause of allowing antiauthority traits to run amuck. When we feel a strong need to get somewhere, we can feel justified in bending the rules. When our antiauthority attitude overwhelms our good judgment, we're squarely in the danger zone.
While most of us don't like to admit it, at times we all act as if the rules don't apply to us. If you've ever found yourself cruising down the highway above the posted speed limit, hurrying to make it through a yellow traffic light, or rolling past a stop sign, then you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes it seems that the rules just don't apply in the particular circumstances, that they aren't that important, or that we can get away with disregarding them.
When we find ourselves breaking the rules like this, we usually have ways to rationalize our behavior. "There was no traffic, and I was in a hurry...nobody was coming...conditions were perfect...you know these roads were really designed for traveling at 70 miles an hour...." Occasionally, such lapses in judgment result in an accident, but even then we are likely to find extenuating circumstances that relieve us of responsibility, such as, "That guy just came out of nowhere," or, "There was a patch of ice on the road," or, "He wasn't using his turn signals."
The same thing can happen in an airplane. To save a few seconds of time, pilots sometimes abbreviate the traffic pattern or use non-standard entries, skip checklists, or fly closer to the clouds and in poorer weather conditions than legally allowed. They rationalize these deviations with similar arguments, including, "There was nobody else in the pattern," or, "I know the checklist by heart," or, "I've done this hundreds of times."
Psychological stressors are probably the most common cause of allowing antiauthority traits to run amuck. When we feel a strong need to get somewhere, we can feel justified in bending the rules. When our antiauthority attitude overwhelms our good judgment, we're squarely in the danger zone.