Fight Or Flight … Really?

Here is a perfect example of omitted information. A meme appears in society and, if not questioned, becomes a ‘fact’. Even at Buddhist retreats, I’ve heard the phrase “fight or flight” used many times, and I just sit there, amazed.

My chickens know that there is a third aspect to reaction, and that is freeze. We all suffer from fight, flight or freeze; when we walk into a room full of people, there are some we’re attracted to (do battle with), others we avoid (they look scary), and those we ignore (blank out).

When we add ‘freeze’ to the equation, we get the complete picture of the three poisons of desire, aversion and ignorance which, in Buddhism, represent the three wisdoms of emptiness, cognisance and compassion. How do they miss this?

The word ‘freeze’ has been introduced officially, but is used in a conventional way.

Wikipedia:
The fight-or-flight response the state of hyper-arousal results in several responses beyond fighting or fleeing. This has led people to calling it the fight, flight, freeze response (or fight-flight-faint-or-freeze, amongst other variants). The wider array of responses, such as freezing, fainting, fleeing, or experiencing fright, has led researchers to use more neutral or accommodating terminology such as hyper-arousal or the acute stress response.

Experts want to sound like experts, don’t they?
And we, not wanting to look stupid, just accept their version.

Once we realise the essence of our reality,
everything falls into its right place.