Recently I have been looking at why people can be so predictable in their actions or likely actions when it jumped out at me from a book I have been reading.
Basically you can determine likely actions due to habits & most people would say well that is obvious, but it can also have an influence on the way we respond.
The book is one of the series by Patrick O'Brien about the life of a Captain in the Royal Navy in the early 1800's & his ship's doctor. I began reading this series long before it became famous due to the movie starring the New Zealand actor Russell Crowe(yes he is an Australian citizen now, but he is a New Zealander as any Australian will tell you when he gets into trouble & cousin of the famous NZ cricketers Jeff & Martin Crowe).
As any military person will tell you training in particular with live ammunition is essential. During the time the books are set if the commander of a vessel wanted to exercise the guns more than regulations allowed he had to buy in his own gun powder. In the particular book the central figure happens upon some bargin gunpowder from an out of business fireworks factory & so takes it for training purposes.
Very early on they surprise a French warship & as the two come towards each other the French engage first. What the Captain suddenly realizes, as he holds his guns from returning fire until the right moment, is that as they had set up for practice the wrong powder maybe in use. But as it can throw a cannon ball the same distance he doesn't worry.
Master and Commander The Far Side if the World
What has to be remembered is especially at that time, sailors in particular had set habits & were very superstitious in particular of anything new. In fact that theme runs throughout the books of the series I have read so far.
Just as he readies to fire there is an issue with a mast so he fires earlier than he wished. But the effect is startling. The Broadside rolls on in a variety of colours including what appears to be the colours of the French flag.
As they ready for the next return of fire from the French ship nothing happens. The smoke clears to show the French running for the port it seems spooked by these new secret weapons which fire in all different colours.
Post Captain ( Book 2 in series) (Aubrey/Maturin Novels)
The French Captain may of wanted to continue but with crews so superstitious he appears to have taken the safe option.
Though the book maybe fictional it is based on a lot of reseach & facts from the period in part thanks to journals kept by officers at the time that were published.
It has made me reflect on how the actions we here in New Zealand & in particular Christchurch have taken over the last week are due to reponses dictated by habit or changing habits.
Will deal with that in the next post unless something major arises.
In the meantime Canterbury continues to shake with a good aftershock yesterday afternoon as well as several others & one in particular where we searched for a lost comrade after an army exercise.
Habits can have a good & bad effect.
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