The 21 reasons people violate the survival instinct

Why Do People Place Themselves In Harm's Way? The survival instinct is governed by cognition, abstract codes, norms and fear. Reid J. Daitzman. Psychology Today, Sep 2 2021. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/magical-enlightenment/202109/why-do-people-place-themselves-in-harms-way

Excerpts:

The 21 reasons people violate the survival instinct.

The first reason is PRESERVATION OF THE BLOODLINE. At the Kabul airport during the American evacuation of Afghanistan, a pleading father placed a young child over his head into the arms of a U.S. soldier [...]

The second reason is to PROTECT A GROUP traditionally your nation-state fighting a soldier in the war to defend or preserve a way of life. In Japan, during World War II, this philosophy was “Bushido,” or the “art of death.” Tribalism and nationalism are more examples.

The third reason is in SELF-DEFENSE from someone attacking you for no other reason than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The law takes this circumstance into account. In these risky situations are approach and avoidance people. People are often unnecessarily risking their lives just to be macho, lowering the chances of survival. It is usually better to just flee, if possible [...]

The fourth reason is willing to die for a RIGHTEOUS CAUSE, including a social construct, an ideology, or to shed more light upon injustice [...]It is a form of ALTRUISTIC SUICIDE for (what seems like) a greater good.

The fifth reason is SUICIDE, the leading cause of death, an odd form of self-sacrifice, and sometimes selfish, since a suicide attempt is not necessarily to self-terminate, perish, but to end the pain of living. [...]

The sixth reason is choosing to be in HARM’s WAY. It involves preserving or exploring deficits in social justice, for example, sacrificing your life in a peaceful protest against a known, institutional wrong [...]

The seventh reason is HEROISM, defined as acting to preserve the life of known others, for example, the soldier jumping on a hand grenade to protect his platoon [...]

The eighth reason is arrogance, pride, or VAINGLORY, like Tony Montana (Al Pacino) in "Scarface" [...]

The ninth reason is EUTHANASIA, an end-of-life decision in a hospice or a state or country that allows for it. This reason overlaps with mercy killing.

The tenth reason is a MERCY KILLING a severely disabled child whose future would be pure hell in pain entirely physically and mentally disabled. It is a human playing God with moral and legal implications.

The eleventh reason is a medical TRIAGE decision in busy emergency rooms and on the battlefield, choosing who shall live and who shall die. [...]

The twelfth reason, DUTY, is role bound pressured through group cohesion, for example, the firefighters entering into the World Trade Center on 9/11 while all others are fleeing away  [...]

The thirteenth reason is DANGEROUS FUN. Some people are willing to potentially die to alter their consciousness. This is the “accidental overdose” (a bad outcome) when the person knows what they are doing is dangerous  [...]

The fourteenth reason is THRILL AND ADVENTURE SEEKING, for example, skydiving, weather reports inside hurricanes, sailing around the world in a small boat, to rock climbing. A rational person knows this choice lowers self-preservation. [...]

The fifteenth reason, MATERNAL INSTINCT [...]

The sixteenth reason is HONOR LINKED TO HOPELESSNESS. For example, an African slave in 1810 jumps ship and drowns rather than becoming a slave forever dehumanized.  [...]

The seventeenth reason is EXPLORATION AND PIONEERING honor linked to hopefulness.  [...]

The eighteenth reason is LIFESTYLE and is health-related. You are grossly obese and diabetic with hypertension but choose not to modify your lifestyle, causing “premature” death, an act of self-termination. Or a person decides not to take the COVID-19 vaccine based on false beliefs versus science.

The nineteenth reason is MONEY AND FAME, linked to (potentially) dangerous choices, for example, in professional sports causing the post-concussion syndrome, traumatic brain injury, early-onset dementia  [...]

The twentieth reason is insatiable curiosity as to personal limits linked to LOW SELF-ESTEEM or something to prove. For example, a person may train for the New York Marathon before a health physical detected a heart murmur [...]

The twenty-first reason is SOCIAL DEATH. This death lasts forever, given law lacks a court of public opinion and is never adjudicated. Social death is when inappropriate behavior (illegal, immoral, unethical) has been revealed, and you become a social pariah tarnishing your character and reputation. You lose your position, status, authority, and honor ostracized from the “club” and polite society.