Science Article #9

Better to React Than to Act

Wogan, T. “Better to React Than to Act”. ScienceNOW Daily News. February 3, 2010. Retrieved February 7, 2010 From http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2010/203/1

Have you been in a life-threatening situation that enabled you to react much faster than you anticipated? I have and what a rush it was. Some people believe that acting out something rather than reacting to something would prove to be faster. That is not true according to this article. There is this study where it examines the brain’s ability to move our muscles much faster than we believe we can – base on our reaction to a given situation.

Believe it or not, the reactive senses of our brain can outdo the decisive sense in a grave situation that only means life and death. Remember the cowboys in the Wild West and how they can be the fastest gunslingers? Well, the study shows that during gunfights, its better for them to react to others rather than leading. In fact, it is the person drawing the gun first usually the one gets shot because the other gunslinger is reacting to the other guy’s action and is considerably faster.

Truer words were never spoken, especially when it is the matter of life and death. This study is actually for understanding how our brains and our motor skills coordinate together in hopes of combating motor impairment from, say a stroke patient or even paralysis. Even though a world-renowned physicist, Bohr, already understood our reactive nature, it helps to understand it at a deeper level so we can help patients in need of regaining motor skills.