Stoicism

[Horse]

Some of you may be aware of the 'No Surprise, No Accident ' campaign that Spin helped develop.

https://www.facebook.com/NoSurpriseUK/

https://nosurprise.org.uk/

Part of the NS philosophy is that however well you plan and ride, things can still go wrong. And, along with that, most bike crashes are 'unusual' occurrence, bikers are typically boring and horribly predictable, with just a few different crash types used most of the time.

Along with that, if you know those crash types then you can physically and mentally rehearse for them.

Sometimes - particularly the high risk situations - mental rehearsal. 'Visualisation' is the way to do that. A modern technique? Hmmmm ....

Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BC. It is a philosophy of personal eudaemonic virtue ethics informed by its system of logic

And ...

the great Stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca. And they had an even better name for it: premeditatio malorum (premeditation of evils).


“Practice premeditatio malorum (a premeditation of evils). Everyone talks about positive visualization. The stoics practice negative visualization. Think about what could go wrong, accept that it is a possibility, prepare for it, proceed anyway. Don’t be caught by surprise by misfortune, be ready for it.”


Ah well, nothing new under the Sun.

But that doesn't detract from the principle and its benefits.

[The Spin Doctor]

Good post

Never said the NS 'predict the worst' approach was new though, at least outside of road safety But the application of visualisation is relative new (AFAIK) being introduced into what became known as sports psychology in the 60s... So we're only 60 years behind in motorcycling (though I've been banging on about it for nearly 20 years )

[Horse]

(though I've been banging on about it for nearly 20 years )

Ditto, with the 'Arizona Airspeed' article (sadly no longer online) as one of the best descriptions of why and how.

[iansoady]

Basic project management......

[Horse]

Basic project management......

Which, like common sense, is probably not common enough.

Also not encompassed by the old police philosophy that if you are riding to Roadcraft, you cannot crash.

[slowsider]

premeditatio malorum

[Horse]

In the days when I used to have a desk in an office building, this graced the divider.

[Scootabout]

"Think about what could go wrong, accept that it is a possibility, prepare for it, proceed anyway. ”
[/i]

[The Spin Doctor]

Love the way the pic in the background keeps changing

[Scootabout]

Love the way the pic in the background keeps changing

Advanced observation skills in operation there, I see - I hadn't noticed