Situational and Social Awareness

I am continuing my discussion of skills that I think we will need in the future and today I will talk about two that we need to develop now if we don’t already possess them. They are situational and social awareness. Basically they are skills that let you be aware of what is happening around you and in your community.

If you are aware to what is happening in your immediate area then you are situational aware, if you spend time at any public place where people gather in reasonably large numbers like a mall, discount super store, college campus, you will notice that the majority of people are lost in their own world and are only vaguely aware of what is happening around them.

People are listening to their IPods, talking on their cell phones, texting on their blackberries or just wandering around like a zombie. You see this behavior on our roadways all of the time, drivers sitting at green lights, stops signs or in turning lanes completely oblivious that they can proceed until the people behind them start honking their horns. How many accidents (or accidents narrowly avoided) caused by inattentive drivers?

What is scary is that most people pay more attention to their surroundings when they are driving than when they are walking. I am not talking about being hyper-vigilant, but just being aware of what is happening around you. Noticing things that are out of the ordinary or seem peculiar, is someone paying particular attention to you, or is there a large number of police around inspecting the area are cues that you should pick up on. Muggers tend to avoid people who notice them and pick easier and more unaware targets, not that I am saying that there are muggers everywhere, but noticing insect eggs in your garden can help you protect your plants before the eggs hatch.

Practicing situational awareness in your daily life will have nothing but good results unless you become paranoid. I am not saying to only look for bad things, but also good things, like money lying on the ground, or edible wild plants etc… The point is that most people are lost in their own little world and not paying attention to the bigger (and more important) world that surrounds them. This oblivion can cause us to miss opportunities and perils in our environment. If we pay attention to what is going on around us we stand a better chance of taking the opportunities and avoiding the perils and we can make this a habit very easily.

The next point I want to make is not just paying attention to your immediate surroundings but to the happenings and attitudes in your community as a whole. I am meaning your local community but this can be expanded to larger communities as well.

This social awareness can let you see trends in your community, whether your neighborhood is going downhill or upscale. If you are socially aware then you can pick up on racial, ethnic and social tension that might be in your community. You begin to notice inequity and social injustice that can cause strife during tough times.

If you are socially attentive then will be able to realize that the nicer sit down restaurants are disappearing and only fast food places remain, or that the number of cash advance and pawn shops swell in your community. Try to tell how many rental versus owned homes that you have in your area, and what condition are they in.

Is your local community cutting down on services, for instance is your local library cutting hours or the civic infrastructure not being repaired. This could be that the city is no longer decorating for holidays or not as quick (or not at all) picking up roadside trash. You might be able to help organize a local citizens group to start providing the services that your local government can no longer afford to do. This could be decorating for a holiday parade, or forming a community watch.

You might realize that you need to move because of you religion, race, sexual persuasion, political outlook or any number of reasons. You might realize that things will be fine for you but will put your children or grand children at a huge disadvantage in the future. This could be a failing school system, degrading local economy, inadequate transportation infrastructure etc… You might realize that while you are fine the only future job prospects for your children are sharecropper or day laborer.

By using both of these skills you can in the short term be able to predict the future and have an increased influence on your environment. You can avoid trouble or at least be able to be better prepared for potential events (good or bad).

So pay attention to what’s around you, read the local newspaper, notice if buildings are no longer being maintained and talk to your neighbors. Listen to idle talk while in the checkout line at your grocery store, or what people are gossiping about at the farmers market. You will be able pickup on subtle signs of what is going on in your neighborhood and environment and hopefully this will help you adapt to the changes to come.