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Published Mar 24, 2020

329: Gavin de Becker | The Gift of Fear Part One

Security expert Gavin de Becker delves into the power of intuition for personal safety and violence prediction, highlighting the groundbreaking MOSAIC threat assessment system to prevent escalation of threats, especially in domestic situations.
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  • Indicators

    Gavin de Becker highlights the importance of recognizing pre-incident indicators to prevent violence. He categorizes predators into two types: persuasion predators, who manipulate victims into dangerous situations, and power predators, who rely on physical force. The key to identifying potential threats is intuition, as de Becker notes, "The number one pre-incident indicator of a violent situation is that someone is seeking to persuade you of something or control you, and you don't want to."

    The number one pre-incident indicator of a violent situation is that someone is seeking to persuade you of something or control you, and you don't want to.

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    Understanding these indicators can help individuals avoid dangerous situations by trusting their instincts 1 2.

       

    Control

    De Becker explains how predators often exploit control and privacy to dominate their victims. He emphasizes that behavior and situation are crucial in assessing threats, with privacy and control being significant factors. "If somebody has you in an environment that's private, your apartment, your car, and they have control over you," he warns, "that by itself is a reason to simply check and confirm that it's all right."

    If somebody has you in an environment that's private, your apartment, your car, and they have control over you, that by itself is a reason to simply check and confirm that it's all right.

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    By recognizing these dynamics, individuals can better protect themselves from potential predators 3 1.

       

    Intuition

    The discussion also touches on the role of intuition in threat assessment. De Becker argues that modern systems often overlook human intuition, which is vital for accurately predicting violent behavior. He states, "Systems of government are not human. They are a reflection of human choices made at some time in the past. They don't evolve organically and they don't change organically."

    Systems of government are not human. They are a reflection of human choices made at some time in the past. They don't evolve organically and they don't change organically.

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    By integrating intuition with systematic assessments, individuals can enhance their ability to foresee and prevent violence 2 3.

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