Why are we evolved to be brave, especially if being too brave could get you pruned from the evolutionary tree? And who was the gritty ‘Mulan’ of the Revolutionary War?

If two men charge uphill against a hale of musket fire, who’s braver - the man who quells his shakes and conquers his fear, or the man who never felt fear in the first place? Better yet, is James Bond brave, even though he knows he has the skills to overcome anything? Or is he just cocky? That’s our subject today on The Re-Engineered You - the many flavors of bravery, and why they exist in mankind in the first place. We want to know what factors make up a brave person. How we can summon up our own bravery. And who’s braver, men or women?

We’ll also take a look at the life of Deborah “Molly” Sampson - a woman who was so gung-ho to square off with the British during the Revolutionary War, she sewed her own uniform and faked being a man to get into the army...twice. We’ll also discuss how “Molly” became part of the elite army unit known as Washington’s Light Infantry, and how she ended up as the first woman to receive an army pension.

History Links:

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/deborah-sampson

https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/deborah-sampson/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Deborah-Sampson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Sampson https://www.lottie.com/blogs/strong-women/deborah-sampson-biography-for-kids

https://study.com/academy/lesson/deborah-sampson-biography-facts.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/02/arts/design/the-woman-who-sneaked-into-george-washingtons-army.html

Science Links:

https://phys.org/news/2008-09-tribal-war-drove-human-evolution.html

https://hbr.org/2020/05/how-to-find-and-practice-courage#:~:text=This%20is%20not%20an%20easy,the%20person%20and%20the%20situation

https://www.menshealth.com/health/a18918454/this-is-why-some-people-are-braver-than-others-according-to-science/

https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935291.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935291-e-36

http://www.fearlessleadersgroup.com/the-science-of-courage

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/significant-results/201205/women-are-braver-men

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/7b6484fb-3b00-46d6-a557-ac2a0b6f8591

https://news.gallup.com/poll/1978/americans-see-women-emotional-affectionate-men-more-aggressive.aspx

https://www.sciencedirect.com