I have often relied, for confidence, on a trick of the mind that I have noticed when in a fight situation. I haven't had a fight in years but something about the experience has stuck with me, something I noticed seems to have been confirmed today in the news.

If I have gotten into a situation in the past where violence must occur, I am really very worried about it, scared even, that is until the first blow occurs. At this point I have experienced a drop in fear and worry and all emotion. I never understood it and held it as a piece of information that gave me confidence to deal with situations because if the worst happened i would click into a new way of thinking and be able to act accordingly.

I had never thought out of my particular box on this, and come up with a rule for all but there seems to be one. On the BBC news website I stumbled across an article on how computer game violence triggered similar actions in peoples brains as if they were in a real situation.

"They asked the men to play a violent game while their brain activity was monitored using magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning. The researchers monitored the game scene by scene, and watched how brain activity changed during violent interactions and calmer interludes. It was found that, when violence was imminent, the cognitive - information processing - parts of the brain became more active. During a fight in the game, parts of the brain which deal with emotion, including the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex, were shut down. The same pattern has been seen in brain scans of people during acts of real aggression."

I was impressed to read this, some science is done properly! and does relate to the real world. The article turned the finding into a crusade against computer games and said that they made men more aggressive, but my experience, and that of the scientist involved, tells me that this is not the case. It is actually a good thing.

Aggression promotes pro-activity rather than lethargy, to be agressive, to want to fight the things around you is to want to change the world and not for the hell of it, but for its own good. To bring out a harmony in a broken down system.