A friend from work was describing to us over lunch how, on a camping trip, he had been confronted by a bear who appeared to be minding her own business. However, she was too close for comfort for my friend so he decided to follow advice he'd heard that when facing a large, dangerous wild animal, you should make yourself look big and threatening. Holding his jacket above his head with both arms spread out increased his apparent height at least three feet.
The result, however, was not quite what he expected. The bear rather than being frightened was either curious or annoyed. In any case, she started running towards my friend who decided at that point to look small and insignificant or invisible. The bear lost interest and went back to ambling through the forest.
How many of our troubles do we bring on ourselves by looking big and threatening. Is our current war an example? Shouting to the world, "Bring it on!" doesn't seem to have frightened any bears away.
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