Why going very still during conflict does not always mean someone is calm
When someone goes eerily still during conflict, it's not composure—it's a nervous system in lockdown, reverting to a survival strategy learned long ago.
Popular topics
Writer
Daniel Moran covers technology, digital life and culture at Silicon Canals. His reporting focuses on how people build modern systems and how those systems affect the way people work and live.
When someone goes eerily still during conflict, it's not composure—it's a nervous system in lockdown, reverting to a survival strategy learned long ago.
Jul 17, 2026
There's a particular worry I keep running into from people in their forties and fifties who are on their own.
Jul 16, 2026
We're sold a story about identity that runs like a detective film.
Jul 15, 2026
Last week I watched a bloke in a near-empty café stand up, sling his bag over one shoulder, and then, before he walked out, quietly slide his chair back under the table.
Jul 15, 2026
My grandmother knew everyone's blood type.
Jul 15, 2026
"Table seven, one cover." That was the line that used to make my floor staff sigh.
Jul 14, 2026
Some of the gentlest people I have ever met had lives that would flatten most of us.
Jul 14, 2026
There's a certain kind of person you learn to spot if you've ever run a room full of tables.
Jul 13, 2026
We've got a lazy story we tell about lonely old people.
Jul 13, 2026
I once knew a man who was, without exaggeration, the most likeable person in any room.
Jul 12, 2026
My father learned to read a room before he learned to read a book.
Jul 12, 2026
My dad spent the better part of forty years walking into the same office.
Jul 11, 2026