Some good points made above, and there is no excuse for stupidity in a shooting situation ...... however there is ignorance, carelessness, and even a phenomenon called 'Early Blur' in some hunting situations that often/can cause the wrong animal to be shot, or sometimes even another hunter. I can site several cases where even an experienced hunter can offend to this degree. Sad but true, the more experienced one is does not necessarily mean he will be less likely than an inexperienced hunter to have a bad shooting incident.
And I'd be willing to bet that if truth were known, at least some of us here on this very forum have done one of the very worst things that can lead to bad shooting. I'm in a pinch for time and got to run, but I do love cussing/discussing the reasons behind some of these accidents. I'll be back later this PM.
Read about 'Early Blur' here:
Very good thought provoking article JJ,
Preconceived notions may come into play in a humans mind and alter their thoughts big time. Likely best to approach a scenario with a clear, fresh, almost empty mind at times to expect the unexpected like many children do. Sometimes, preconditioning usually in more experienced adults can create nightmares and unrealistic approaches to something that's either there or not. Most things are fresh and new to children because of their lack of experience in so many things. Adults often overlook things sometimes taking things for granted that children do not and vice versa.
Preconceived notions can lead to many things. Like thinking someone's possibly homeless or poor just because they may be unkempt or dirty or have an older vehicle? In some ways too like desert mirages or hallucinations and possibly being accustomed to something so much it becomes reality even when not present or true.
Then, like when something becomes so familiar it almost ceases to exist or be noticed? An example may be if everyone drove with their vehicles headlights on 24/7? After awhile they may not have a safety effect at all because people had become so familiar with them as far as others visibility of them? Vehicles with similar colors as roadways can create issues the same as with contrasting colors attracting attention? Variety is the spice of life may come to mind? - It may be more of a solution or a cure than some people may realize or think too? A variety of shapes, colors contrasts, sounds, environments among other things can come into play in better evaluations. Too much of most anything can lead to other issues like a kid eating too much candy leading to a belly ache. List could almost go on indefinitely in that direction.
Further on in the article, overconfidence, too much familiarity, bias, expectations and sometimes an inflated ego may come into mind as well in the article with some people? Too much rapidity, doing things too quickly may sound counterproductive in some ways to some people, but good timing isn't always about speed or quickness, it's about accurateness and balance. One thing often reflects on another, either creating a balance or imbalance. Life needs a good balance of many things to keep on track and avoid typecasting people, things and scenarios from experience. Too much work, too much effort without play time or something else to break the monotony can create too much stress. That stress, the almost invisible monster, can all too often create mistakes.
Is and can be much more involved than the article points out. Much is related to stress as well. Many modern day events create other events that usually didn't occur in the past because of rapidly evolving technology moving so quickly now days. The human brain can only handle so much at a time as the article basically explains. Filling in the blanks rightly or wrongly can be one of them. That usually indicates stress when something doesn't turn out in the way as intended or perceived.