If you want some more realistic facts about historical sea rover’s (including the real difference between pirates, buccaneers, and filibusters) check out The Sea Rover’s Practice, written by former Navy SEAL Benerson Little.

I love big cats, and I cannot lie. Nature has yet to devise a more gorgeous predator than the Panthera genus. Of course, it’s a one-way love affair.

Once upon a time I was watching a documentary about captive lions. The human (I forget if he was a researcher, zoo keeper, or simply tending a facility) was demonstrating how he earned the trust of a lioness by easing a standard push broom toward her. The moment she reacted negatively, he stopped and withdrew.

This taught her that she had control over his behavior, which boosted her confidence and calmed her down. So, each time he was able to move the broom closer to her until, finally, he was actually able to touch her.

This a great technique for creating rapport with other thinking creatures, showing them that the threat they feel from you isn’t really so bad. But it comes with pitfalls. Fortunately for this lioness, her trust was being earned for her own benefit. But, imagine if the human’s intention was not to take care of the lioness, but to poison her. Each push of the broom, each gradual boost in her trust would be another step toward her undoing.

And, this dynamic doesn’t require intention on the part of the threat. Imagine some hypothetical Neolithic wanderer finding a new type of fruit, a little spicy to the taste, and after swallowing a bite of it he worries it might make him sick. But, a few hours later, he’s fine. So, confidence boosted, he eats and survives a whole fruit, and eventually adds the fruit to his daily diet.

Only, the spicy chemical accumulates in his brain, softening the walls of his arteries until a month later he suffers a massive stroke.

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