When it comes to things primordial, our society is but a projection of our natural world, where staring is a pre-attack indicator as well.
Eye contact is an essential part of non-verbal communication not just among humans but also among animals, and staring is the main type of eye contact that takes place in the moments before violence ensues.
As a pre-attack indicator, staring has parallels in Nature. The same types of stares can be observed in the non-verbal behavior of predators in the wild.
Here are a few examples:
- Predatory stare. This is the stare of a hungry wolf entranced by the scent of its unsuspecting meal. This is the stare of a coyote entranced by the sight of its outwitted prey. Deep within us, the wisdom of our ancestors can remind us exactly what this stare feels like.
- Baiting stare. In the wild, direct eye contact is taken as a challenge. Wild animals use staring as a way to establish their dominance and to dispute someone’s claim over what’s theirs. Just like the baiting stare in our human wilderness, staring can be used as a tactic to trigger confrontation in the natural world as well.
- Scanning stare. Though to a lesser extent than in our human jungle, we can witness the scanning stare in the wild too. It’s not like predators in Nature are concerned with things like security cameras or potential witnesses, but they still occasionally scan their surroundings for any source of trouble to themselves and their hunting efforts.
- Focused stare. Look no further than the laser-like stare of a wild cat zooming in on its prey. Except the wild cat’s instincts already know how the assault must be launched to the finest detail. Human predators lack such a natural capacity, and their focused stare often gives away their assault tactics and techniques as a result.
As for the thousand-yard stare, this type of stare is something uniquely human in origin - brought about by all the mindless violence and trauma that allegedly civilized human beings have been inflicting upon each other century after century in all kinds of meaningless acts of human savagery. In Nature, violence is neither meaningless, nor excessive, and one would be hard-pressed to come across this type of stare in the wild.
Keeping these parallels with Nature in mind can let us appreciate the universality of staring as a non-verbal behavior cue and its role as a pre-attack indicator in helping us stay safe in our human jungle.
Let the primordial wisdom of Mother Nature guide us as we discern different types of stares in our human wilderness.