Situational Awareness Bubbles

[Originally, this was part of an 11-minute audio observation, but the wind noise prevented clear audio. Lesson learned. However, I am taking the time to transcribe and edit as I have pondered my own thoughts on the matter a bit more and find it worthy of the effort.]

I’m going to share with you an observation or two…

You’ve seen it before: somebody’s in the left lane and they’re doing slightly above the speed limit. You get over into the right lane to pass them… but they suddenly decide to get over into the right lane as well, so you’ve got to get back over to the left lane.

Irritating… extremely irritating.

However, that got me thinking about situational awareness (SA) and how you interpret the world around you. It’s not just a physical situational awareness bubble (pSA) – it can also be a temporal situational awareness (tSA) bubble.

A pSA bubble physical is often just understanding what’s around you. If you’re driving down the freeway – depending on your level of ability – your bubble is going to be different sizes. For me, I’ve been driving since 1990… 34 years. My pSA bubble is as far as I can see ahead and it’s constantly being refreshed by what’s in my rear-view mirror, what’s in my blind spot, and what’s in my side mirrors. It is also anticipating what other people – drivers and pedestrians – are going to do based on the situation.

Maybe there’s a lot of traffic and people are merging. I’m going to anticipate and I’m going to increase that bubble accordingly. Some people do not have very large SA bubbles – in this case, it can be infuriating but it also gives you a little bit of perspective as to where that person is mentally.

A tSA bubble is knowing what is more than likely going to happen soon, based upon extrapolation, experience, and observed actions. tSA can provide a possible set of indicators to look out for in some communities: it could be centered around politics… about military intelligence… about parenting… or whatever domain that you that you’re working in and around.

In terms of driving, it’s both a location and time because – after all – movement is distance over time. At 50 miles per hour, I would have to understand that rates of approach, closest points of approach, and time to closest point of approach are in a constant state of change. My pSA and tSA bubbles are not perfect circles; it’s what’s ahead but it’s also what exists laterally.

The tSA bubble would be a case of understanding the direction that you’re going culturally societally, but also understanding what’s going on in your immediate vicinity. It’s not always going to be the same thing; it’s not always going to be very clear.

Some people may not have a tSA bubble because they only think about the immediate: “What I can get now” versus “What my immediate desires now in this moment are going to mean for the next month… the next year… the next decade… the Next Generation…” Possibly, that sense of immediacy short circuits folks and puts them in a constant loop of reacting out of necessity rather than intent.

A bubble – temporal or physical – is very important in the case of my son in hopes that there will be a lesson learned; an understanding that, before he goes on his next road trip, it might be a good idea to check the fluids and pressures… or to update the Geico app so that if something does happen, he might be a bit more self-sufficient in getting whatever unforeseen issue resolved.

Early and deliberate actions taken often suggests independence. At 18, yeah, he will make mistakes. The way that engine sounded when I showed up suggests that it may be a very expensive mistake; then again, that is also a lesson in causality. However, it also paints a picture of not just for the event but what this might mean for him when he gets older. My hopes are that the event fosters an understanding that having a network of people that will drop everything to come and help you out is very important. It won’t matter whether if future crises are natural, man-made, or just plain ol’ daily life; it’s important to have others to offset whatever lapses in SA one might have.

Finally, this may have been a good opportunity to learn about being an asset or a liability. If he can balance both pSA and tSA; if he can understand capabilities and limitations of himself, his equipment, and his network… whatever costs of repairs make such a lesson invaluable.

We shall see.

In the meantime… pay attention!