Combat creates a different reality and different rules, rules that might appear less rational in peacetime. Combat also exerts pressures on the human psyche, tapping into fight-or-flight response and various biochemical releases* that help humans survive dangerous situations. Such conditions and such pressures are not the most conducive to reflective thought. It is for this reason that distinctions are made between actions carried out in “hot blood” versus ones carried out in “cold blood.”
