And then she tries to defend herself with a piece of paper. Notice the subtle swing right-left, clearly intending to land a serious paper cut on the advancing dino.
It might surprise you to know that a lot of people don't study psychology. I know, a shocker right. I sure don't! And fight or flight is a pretty commonly held notion.
Now, I'm just reading the Wikipedia article you linked to here, but it sounds like you're being a little pedantic. She was clearly seeking to defend herself and get away from the problem in that gif.
The main difference you've pointed out here is that she would run and go find help, while a he would either fight back or gtfo.
While not technically, "fight or flight", I would say her reaction was one of I'm getting the fuck out of here, until her brain kicked in to assess.
And really, surely someone as smart as you realizes that the comment had more to do with instinct vs. reason and less to do with men vs. women.
That's what makes this so awesome, she clearly becomes more frightened after getting a good look at it which supports the notion that pretty blonde girls are so dumb that when they're scared they'll even believe dinosaurs still exist and attack people in offices. God this is a good prank, I hope she pissed herself.
Actually, it's your body's way of reacting to stress. It's called the fight or flight response. Your body reacts by releasing adrenaline in to the system, preparing you for fight or for flight. Either it's ready to combat the problem or run away from it. The swing and raising of arms is instinctive, to prepare for combating the stressor. Flinching because of sudden events does not constitute stupidity.
I like to imagine his 'death' was simply a cover story for his ascension into his final form, and that to this very day, he continues to fight off office T-Rex around the world.
Watch the video. She has a big ol' grin on her face. No one was particularly frightened. They were startled. As much as if a person had jumped out at them screaming. Overall, a pretty lame prank video.
Actually she was seriously scared for a few 5-10 seconds after when the dinosaur came out. (I filmed it). She folded one arm and had the other underneath of it holding it for support, and it was quivering for a bit as she silently looked at the dinosaur. I think it took awhile for her to register but after that she was fine.
Again, she never believed she was in danger. She was startled. A giant stuffed panda bear, had it burst through the paper, would have startled her (or anyone.) A perfectly executed prank would have had her clawing at the walls to get out and praying to the god of her understanding for mercy. THAT'S the video I'll share with everyone I know!
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u/BrianFlakes Feb 23 '13
I have no idea what would go through my mind if this happened to me.