Can I learn situational awareness outside of the military?

[The Twitcher]

Or police?

[ronin497]

Or police?

SA's a mindset. Nothing special or mystical about it. It's also called keeping your head on a swivel. Managers at McDonald's display situational awareness, as do construction foremen.

It simply means being aware of what's around you. The police and military encourage and drill situational awareness, as it's part and parcel of being proficient at their work.

Other places simply refer to this as "being on top of your shit."

To put it another way, don't walk to your car with your arms full of stuff, gabbing away on a cellphone and not being aware of what's around you.

[Father Dagon]

In short: Street smarts. I practice it all the time. Especially when I'm riding the subway. The more people around me, the more SA.

[Southpaw]

Sure. Be he might not have 'street smarts'... so how do you go about getting them if you have already missed the preferable methods of learning street smarts over time and consequences?

OP: Yes. You can learn to improve your situational awareness. There are people who can teach you these kinds of things. You can take private lessons, go to seminars, take classes...

[Phrost]

Know where you are, what the likely risks are, don't look like a sucker, and stay out of Lala Land.

[BadUglyMagic]

Let's Play the Situational Awareness Game (tm)

Go to the worst part of the largest city near you at night, preferably near a public housing project. Find an ATM and withdraw a large amount of cash, wave the cash in the air as you count it. Loudly make stereo typical observations of the people you see. Walk back to were you left you car in a safe part of the city. At the corner of each block you must count your money as you make the observations of the local population. You must stop at any liquor store and flash your cash as you buy a pack of gum. Loudly comment on the neighborhood. Strongly stare back at anyone who looks at you.

Observe the responses and actions of the local populace. Win colorful prizes, improve your cardio, learn new social skills.

Note it is advisable to wear comfortable running shoes. Also, cn/cs/pepper spray/knives/guns/bricks/rocks/rebar are not allowed. For you.

This is a winner take all - no second place game.

[ronin497]

You ever notice how a lot of the "OMG I got jumped at night by 5 guys but I whipped out my Systema/DimMak/Krotty/StreetSword/Desert Eagle and totally pwned" stories always happen in a bad part of town at a friggin' ATM?

If you're withdrawing cash at a poorly lit standalone ATM in a rough part of the city you deserve to get your ass robbed.

Banks must be getting a cut of the thug's action. I've seen cash machines in some really strange places I'm not sure I'd even DRIVE through at night.

[DepGW]

A game my wife and I like to play to improve our SA, is the "Last Person" game. As you walk through Wal-Mart, as your wife about the last person who you passed. The more you two do this, the better you will get at it.

Also do the "What if" game. Go through situations in your mind, and think about "what if this or that happens". Its a good way to build a plan if you ever need one.

[Father Dagon]

Let's Play the Situational Awareness Game (tm)

Go to the worst part of the largest city near you at night, preferably near a public housing project. Find an ATM and withdraw a large amount of cash, wave the cash in the air as you count it. Loudly make stereo typical observations of the people you see. Walk back to were you left you car in a safe part of the city. At the corner of each block you must count your money as you make the observations of the local population. You must stop at any liquor store and flash your cash as you buy a pack of gum. Loudly comment on the neighborhood. Strongly stare back at anyone who looks at you.

Observe the responses and actions of the local populace. Win colorful prizes, improve your cardio, learn new social skills.

Note it is advisable to wear comfortable running shoes. Also, cn/cs/pepper spray/knives/guns/bricks/rocks/rebar are not allowed. For you.

This is a winner take all - no second place game.

Lol, but part of my street smarts is strategy. I.e. what's the best way between A and B? The time of the day or week is also important. Stureplan here in Stockholm has a pretty high status. But during Fridays and Saturday nights, there's lots of drunken revelers...

And OP, where do you live (approx)?

[ronin497]

Also do the "What if" game. Go through situations in your mind, and think about "what if this or that happens". Its a good way to build a plan if you ever need one.

Not a bad thing to keep in mind, but I think you'd agree some people go balls-out crazy with the what-if'ing.

They're the ones holed up in their backyard underground bunkers on a small pile of gold, non-perishable food items for six months, 50,000 rounds of ammo, and enough copies of The Turner Diaries to make sure everybody gets the good news after the Obamapocalypse.

I'm not saying this is you by any stretch of the imagination - where I live I run across a lot of fat camo-wearing John Birch Society types that go out in the woods doing survivalist drills on the weekend.

Y'know, the type of guy you absolutely do NOT want at the party?

[Tom Kagan]

1. Spend 6 months thinking about how to be a great mugger/rapist/burgler/etc in every place you end up.
2. Don't do any of the things you think about.
3. After 6 months, decide to not put yourself in the situations of which you are now better aware.
4. ???
5. Profit.

[Mr. Machette]

Move to Watts.

Let nature take it's course.

My SA developed into downright "spooky psychic territory" from living among a bunch of fucking desperate, drugged out, predatory animal pieces of shit.

Now I can tell who you are, what drugs you're taking, when the last time you took them was, and even what you're thinking about to some degree just from your body language, and the look in your eyes.

And no, I can't help you out with a dollar or a cigarette...

[panthersix]

wear bacon underwear to a lezzie bar!

[rw4th]

Everybody's forgotten about THE most effective training facility for developing super human situational awareness: prison!

Rob a convenience store, get caught, spend a few months in prison. When/if you get out you'll have all the SA you'll ever need.

[M1K3]

wear bacon underwear to a lezzie bar!

What does Kevin Bacon have to do with lezzie bars?

OP, you just need to develop a litte paranoia. Remember all people aren't nice and there are some people who would like to hurt you for no reason at all. Pay attention to you surroundings and if your gut is telling you something isn't right it probably isn't.

Good example of what I mean. A friend of mine was bitching about how some lady he knew and her 12 year old daughter went into Philly for some event. When they were coming home on Patco, local train from Jersey to downtown usually pretty nice, at around 10:30 PM they were the only ones in the station and some wacko was there jerking off. He was going off about the lack of protection in the station. I said to him what the hell was that lady doing in a subway station at 10:30 at night with her daughter and noone else! If something really bad had happended there was nothing she could have done about it. He just looked at me like I was nuts for even suggesting that she had done something stupid.