write to examples of physical courage
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Answer:
Physical courage is the type most people think of first, the one that allows us to risk discomfort, injury, pain or even death—running into burning buildings as a firefighter, facing an enemy on the battlefield, undergoing chemotherapy, climbing a mountain, protecting a child from a dangerous animal.
The term physical courage seems mildly oxymoronic to me. Because courage is a cognitive trait—a willingness to face one’s fears rather than cower from them. But if you mean the courage to face physical risks then there are a great many examples, from things as minor as getting on the bike without training wheels to extreme tests like facing the enemy on a battlefield knowing you’re likely to be seriously injured or killed. When a suicide bomber straps on an explosive vest and sets off to kill as many infidels as possible is that an act of courage, or is simply selfishness because they “know” they’ll be well rewarded in a presumed afterlife? My point is only that it can be impossible to determine whether a given act by someone else is courageous or not because it depends on a thought process. Even the soldier bravely facing the enemy on a battlefield might be choosing the lessor of two evils—perceiving the dishonor of cowardice in the face of danger as more ominous. If they honestly believe the war is unjust then refusing to fight might take a great deal more courage. I suspect that many of the greatest acts of courage have been non-physical—a willingness to challenge or question accepted dogma and risk unjust contempt and ostracism.