there is a description of graded scanning for threats by people
carrying protective weapons in another thread on r.c.m.
I cant find the thread to post to so I'll just park this here.

I was sitting thinking about the description of these graded scans
over a cup of coffee.
damned if I havent heard something quite like this just recently.
it was in an australian medical context and related to a diagnosis of
the cause of wierd behaviour in some aboriginal children.

(you'll have to ease off on the 'imposition of wills' harangueing
stuff for a moment. I'm serious about this.)

these kids perceive threats in everything around them. it is almost
impossible to befriend them in the first day of meeting them because
they take a while to size you up. when you observe them you see a kid
in constant motion, constantly scanning and never able to actually sit
peacefully for more than a nano second.

the medical diagnosis, which has been verified, is that these kids
have either retained or have redeveloped a primitive instinct called
the moro reflex. the moro reflex is a natural normal occurrence in
babies, it is the startle reflex which prepares a baby for handling a
threat.
it is normally gone from the child by 18months to be replaced by other
skills which lead on to mature adult coping skills for life.

in kids from violent homes it seems that this reflex helps to keep the
kids safe in the home environment and so is an adaptive response to
the pressures of violence around them.

similar redevelopment of the moro reflex is seen in combat soldiers,
you know, the guys who instantly hit the pavement and roll if a car
backfires in the street nearby. it seems that much of a special
soldier's training is actually redeveloping this moro reflex in
preparation for combat.

once redeveloped it seems that it is quite difficult to lose the moro
reflex again. ( I think that is the case)

when I read the description of the scanning of threats that was in the
ccw post, damned if it doesnt seem like a moro reflex description.

life must be hell for guys who have redeveloped this reflex. there can
be no peace for them. even in isolated idyllic surrounds where there
are no threats they will never be able to stop the constant scanning
or appreciate the peace and quiet. they have my sympathies.

(btw if you dont believe any of this you arent alone. I was failed off
a degree in nursing because the instructors thought it preposterous.
pity they arent up to speed with recent understandings in medicine.
some serious medical types are behind the diagnosis)
Stealth (seen it for myself) pilot