--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We suffered a terrible blow on 11…" description: "\"We suffered a terrible blow on 11 September 2001. We responded with fear and anger. A fight-or-flight response is adaptive in any species. For us, give..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d78/yochai-benkler-33032_adaptive_we-suffered-a-terrible-blow-on-11-septem_2750484.jpg" --- # We suffered a terrible blow on 11 September 2001. We… ![“We suffered a terrible blow on 11 September 2001. We responded with fear and anger. A fight-or-flight response is adaptive in any species. For us, given our power, fight was the only response we could imagine.” quote by Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d78/yochai-benkler-33032_adaptive_we-suffered-a-terrible-blow-on-11-septem_2750484.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d78/yochai-benkler-33032_adaptive_we-suffered-a-terrible-blow-on-11-septem_2750484.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d78/yochai-benkler-33032_adaptive_we-suffered-a-terrible-blow-on-11-septem_2750484.jpg) > “We suffered a terrible blow on 11 September 2001. We responded with fear and anger. A fight-or-flight response is adaptive in any species. For us, given our power, fight was the only response we could imagine.” [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human reactions to catastrophic events default to fear and aggression, which can be seen as an evolutionary fight‑or‑flight response, but our unique capabilities make violence a limited option. **In simple terms:** Crisis triggers fear and anger; our power limits violent responses. Key Takeaway Seek constructive, non‑violent actions. Themes crisis human nature viol ethics Mood anxious determined Type reflective strategic When to use this quote - political decision‑making - community rebuilding - emergency response - policy planning Key Concepts evolutionary psychology conflict resolution Questions to Reflect On - How can societies channel fear into positive change? - What non‑violent strategies can replace aggression? A Different Perspective Violence may be ineffective or harmful when alternatives exist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adaptive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adaptive/) [Anger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anger/) [Any](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/any/) [Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blow/) [Could](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/could/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight/) [Fight Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight-flight-384112/) [Fight Response](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight-response-3095834/) [Fighting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fighting/) [Flight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flight/) [Flight Response](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flight-response-971524/) [Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/given/) [Imagine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagine/) [Israel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/israel/) [Only](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/only/) [Our](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our/) [Power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/power/) [Responded Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responded-fear-1196157/) [Response](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/response/) [September](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/september/) [Species](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/species/) [Suffered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffered/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Us](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/us/) ## Related quotes > [Basically, in the fight-or-flight response, the objective is to get away from the source of threat. 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Pittman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-m-pittman/) > [“I felt the fight-or-flight reflex swell up in me over and over again, but I knew that neither fight nor flight had ever worked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-felt-the-fight-or-flight-reflex-swell-up-in-me-over-and-over-again/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“The fight-or-flight is often triggered in situations where it is of little or no use to us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russ-harris/the-fight-or-flight-is-often-triggered-in-situations-where-it-is-of/) [Russ Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russ-harris/) > [“Fight or flight? If I had wings, there’d be no choice. But since I don’t have wings, I have to rely on my cape,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/fight-or-flight-if-i-had-wings-there-d-be-no-choice-but-since-i-don-t/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [“Most people have two emergency modes. But Connor always knew he had three: Fight, Flight, and Screw Up Royally. It was a dangerous mental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-shusterman/most-people-have-two-emergency-modes-but-connor-always-knew-he-had/) [Neal Shusterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-shusterman/) > [Men do weird things when they experience fear. It's like a fight-or-flight thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rashida-jones/men-do-weird-things-when-they-experience-fear-it-s-like-a-fight-or/) [Rashida Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rashida-jones/) > [Are you ready to take a chance and risk it all? It's do or die, fight or flight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiodos/are-you-ready-to-take-a-chance-and-risk-it-all-it-s-do-or-die-fight/) [Chiodos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiodos/) > [My fight-or-flight mechanism... had served me well in Gaza, in Afghanistan, and all the places I'd been.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-finkel/my-fight-or-flight-mechanism-had-served-me-well-in-gaza-in/) [Michael Finkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-finkel/) > [“In certain circumstances, basically shit ones, it’s fight or flight. With Tommy it’s always fright and flight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-murphy/in-certain-circumstances-basically-shit-ones-it-s-fight-or-flight/) [Terry Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-murphy/) > [The only thing that can combat fear is action. And there's two actions. There's fight and flight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/earl-sweatshirt/the-only-thing-that-can-combat-fear-is-action-and-there-s-two-actions/) [Earl Sweatshirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/earl-sweatshirt/) > [I cannot do confrontation. You know that fight or flight thing? I'm flight. I just don't want the argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-saunders/i-cannot-do-confrontation-you-know-that-fight-or-flight-thing-i-m/) [Jennifer Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-saunders/) ## More by Yochai Benkler > [Anonymous is not an organization. It is an idea, a zeitgeist, coupled with a set of social and technical practices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/anonymous-is-not-an-organization-it-is-an-idea-a-zeitgeist-coupled/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Imperfection is a core dimension of freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/imperfection-is-a-core-dimension-of-freedom/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Like crime, terrorism is a fact of life. I grew up in Israel, where every unattended bag was a suspected bomb; when my family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/like-crime-terrorism-is-a-fact-of-life-i-grew-up-in-israel-where/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [As long as government is allowed to collect all Internet data, the perceived exigency will drive honest civil servants to reach more broadly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/as-long-as-government-is-allowed-to-collect-all-internet-data-the/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Seeing Anonymous primarily as a cybersecurity threat is like analyzing the breadth of the antiwar movement and 1960s counterculture by focusing only on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/seeing-anonymous-primarily-as-a-cybersecurity-threat-is-like/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Judges wear legal professionalism and precedent as a mantel that secures legitimacy for their decisions. It's how they distinguish themselves from politicians or administrative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/judges-wear-legal-professionalism-and-precedent-as-a-mantel-that/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [On 11 September, I was living in Greenwich Village, New York; my children learned to tell south from north by looking at the World…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/on-11-september-i-was-living-in-greenwich-village-new-york-my/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [I know terrorism is real. And I know fear of it distorts public judgment. Terrorism is like a chronic illness. We have to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/i-know-terrorism-is-real-and-i-know-fear-of-it-distorts-public/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Money isn't always the best motivator. If you leave a $50 check after dinner with friends, you don't increase the probability of being invited back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/money-isn-t-always-the-best-motivator-if-you-leave-a-50-check-after/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Technology has enabled government to have investigative and situational awareness on a scale and scope that were science fiction when the Stasi shut its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/technology-has-enabled-government-to-have-investigative-and/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Bringing an end to mass government surveillance needs to be a central pillar of returning to the principles we have put in jeopardy in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/bringing-an-end-to-mass-government-surveillance-needs-to-be-a-central/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Next time you open the paper, and you see an intellectual property decision, a telecoms decision, it's not about something small and technical. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/next-time-you-open-the-paper-and-you-see-an-intellectual-property/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [Computation, storage, and communications capacity are in the hands of practically every connected person - and these are the basic physical capital means necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/computation-storage-and-communications-capacity-are-in-the-hands-of/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) > [One of the problems of writing and working and looking at the Internet is that it's very hard to separate fashion from deep change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yochai-benkler/one-of-the-problems-of-writing-and-working-and-looking-at-the/) [Yochai Benkler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) [Explore all 15 Yochai Benkler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yochai-benkler/) ## More Adaptive quotes > [We have the most flexible and adaptive economy. Making sure we sustain the ability of the American economy to perform well is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-w-snow/we-have-the-most-flexible-and-adaptive-economy-making-sure-we-sustain/) [John W. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-w-snow/) > [The proof given by Wright, that non-adaptive differentiation will occur in small populations owing to "drift," or the chance fixation of some new mutation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-huxley/the-proof-given-by-wright-that-non-adaptive-differentiation-will/) [Julian Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-huxley/) > [If you look at body fat, it seems to increase with age, even though your weight does not. That's a physiological fact of aging,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-h-cooper/if-you-look-at-body-fat-it-seems-to-increase-with-age-even-though/) [Kenneth H. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-h-cooper/) > [Water is patient; it can stagnate and let itself be coated with scum if need be. It is as gentle as the morning's dew.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huston-smith/water-is-patient-it-can-stagnate-and-let-itself-be-coated-with-scum/) [Huston Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huston-smith/) > [Organizations that empower folks further down the chain or try to get rid of the big hierarchal chains and allow decision making to happen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-johnson/organizations-that-empower-folks-further-down-the-chain-or-try-to-get/) [Steven Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-johnson/) > [It's not the strongest or the most intelligent who survive, but those most adaptive to change. Over the past 10 years, the need for,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-i-chenault/it-s-not-the-strongest-or-the-most-intelligent-who-survive-but-those/) [Kenneth I. 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