Guest Post by Simon Black
In the darkest corners of our human instincts lies a psychological phenomenon that is the result of millions of years of evolutionary biology.
It’s called “tonic immobility”. And it refers to a form of paralysis that occurs when we’re terrified and facing extreme mental or emotional trauma.
Tonic immobility is common in nature. Animals in the wild will often freeze in place when confronted by a predator; the idea is that making no movement, and doing absolutely nothing, increases their chances of survival because the threat will simply go away.
But as anyone who has ever been on safari or seen a nature documentary knows, the danger seldom goes away on its own.
This instinct to ‘do nothing’ in the presence of danger runs very deep in our instincts; and it’s related to a cognitive quirk within our brains that psychologists call ‘normalcy bias’.
Continue reading “Everything’s fine, there’s absolutely nothing to see here”
