The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence

To Gavin de Becker, The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence’s titular focus—true fear—is a brief, biological response characterized by urgency. He argues “fear” is used colloquially and imprecisely when describing worries, while “true fear” propels a person to react in ways to ensure their survival.

He defines intuition as a precursor to fear and response akin to fear, a human trait present in every person. It manifests as curiosity and unease, an urgent suggestion to investigate a given situation. It is designed to prevent remaining in a situation that will likely escalate. This situation should be met with scrutiny, never intuition itself. Intuition’s greatest enemy is doubt, as many people are conditioned to discredit themselves without proof.

Introduced in Chapter 6, JACA comprises de Becker’s four elements for indicating whether or not an individual will resort to violence: Justification, Alternatives, Consequences, and Ability. This tool allows his team and readers to draw predictive conclusions based on available information.

Introduced in Chapter 6, PINs or Pre-Incident Indicators are actions and behaviors that demonstrate probable progression toward a final course of action. PINs can be applied to any situation and are not exclusively negative—but like JACA, they can indicate whether or not an individual will resort to violence.