“Doctor, we only have seconds, which patient gets the kidney?”
“OMG what’s the right thing to do???” And from the couch: “yeah, good” or “uh oh.”
When it’s your own ass on the line, feelings quickly overwhelm thinking — fight, flee, freeze, or fawn — compromising mindfulness.
Thought Exercise: how do you maintain perspective and float a little outside such situations? How do you avoid getting triggered, like you were just watching a show. What thoughts help you remain calm when the boss is upset with you? Do you have a safe internal space for that? Ideally, such a state of mind, listening, open and present to the needs of others, catalyzes understanding, even amidst conflict.
Emotional intelligence means remaining calm under pressure or threat, feeling neither defensive nor agitated, but clear minded and informed by the senses, including and maybe especially, feelings.
Practical Ethics is one set of tools to build such skills, as are meditation, flow states, exercise, improv training, and a hundred other strategies.
Each of us, and every community, company, and government, has its own “ethic” — their way of navigating opportunity and obstacles.
For example, to create and sell products we must balance speed with safety, quality, and cost, all while (hopefully) mitigating unintended consequences. When skiing we avoid the trees. Mistakes are expensive, attention is mandatory.
Extreme athletes thrive on the challenge to focus attention as acutely as possible. And they assiduously repeat the routines, habits, and practices that have worked before — their ethic.
As a toolbox, ethics can support adaptation. What’s your state of mind as you watch other people’s ethics? How might watching TV end up helping you navigate your own crises?