One of the best movie quotes ever: “I know what you’re thinking. ‘Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”
Do you feel lucky? That’s the question and it’s huge — whether you’re Dirty Harry’s prey or some random schmo fleeing the zombie hordes.
It’s also a much more complicated question than we might think from taking a quick pass at it. My luck is not your luck and the amount of risk we will tolerate is a highly individual characteristic. Not only do you need to know IF you feel lucky, you need to know HOW this feeling affects you. In “Dirty Harry,” Harry asks this question twice. The first guy stands down and finds out the gun was empty. He might have been able to get away. The second guy gets quite deservedly shot from close range.
When should you stand down?
With zombies, the question is simple. If you have enough ammunition, fire away and keep firing. It helps to have someone to cover you when you have to reload. If you’re short on ammo, run and save the shots for when there’s no alternative. In non-apocalypse situations, seriously consider standing down. Feeling lucky can keep humans from assessing the real downside of rolling their dice. Ask yourself, what’s the price of losing? That guy who caved before an empty gun probably spent a few years in jail at most. The other guy lost any chances of being in the sequels.
Fear clouds judgement. So does over-confidence. You have to ask yourself: Who are you? Historically, which side of the equation messed you up? If it’s fear, maybe you need to roll the dice more often. If it’s over-confidence, put the dice in your pocket and walk away. Or in blog terms, if it’s fear, maybe you need to buy a bigger gun and get ready to aim at what’s shuffling toward you. If it’s overconfidence, consider putting the axe down and putting on your running shoes instead.
