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Situational awarenessWhat is happening around you?Who has not already had chills while seeing airplanes doing acrobatics? How do they manage to coordinate their actions so precisely, in a context of so much danger? Actually, the pilots use to do this a skill that all of us have, however maybe not so trained. Do you want to check it? Open your eyes: you are aware of what you are reading now. Now, without looking, pay attention to something behind you. This is also a kind of consciousness, of something that you don’t perceive directly. The consciousness that we have of the surrounding context and the things that are important in a certain moment is called situational awareness by the pilots. The more the pilot has the notion of how is the environment around him, the greater his situational awareness is. This includes the current position and the aircraft course, the available resources and the evolution of the facts that can affect things later (for example, the course of other plane nearby).
About a person which is acting in a awkward way we can affirm that he or she has an incomplete situational awareness, that is, she or he doesn't have at that moment a complete notion of what is important in the immediate context. It is worth to notice that the person's attention, for a better situational awareness, must be most of the time at the present moment. To drive thinking about the pleasant things that will happen in the destiny decreases the chances of arriving there! Therefore, expanding the situational awareness directly increases the physical and psychological safety, the objectivity and general competence. To summarize, it expands intelligence. V. V. Vilela Editor
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If
you are a driver, you know that it is essential to be aware of where you
are, where you are going to and how you will arrive there. You also evaluate
the evolution of the facts, such as what the pedestrians and other cars -
probably - will do. All these and other things are part of the situational
awareness of the good drivers. You tell it: who will have more situational
awareness, a person that drives with eyes fixed ahead or someone that once
in a while looks back through the rear view mirrors?
