During the Vietnam War, one of the highest loss rates was for helicopter pilots (tankers were highest) and crew. They dropped the troops wherever they had to be. And where they had to be was frequently under enemy fire. I have seen pictures of the helicopters going sideways between the trees. I asked a friend who was a 'copter pilot in Vietnam if there was a rush from the tricky maneuvers he had to perform. His answer was "yes." Would you like to bet that helicopter pilots were ESs? I would be willing to put a few dollars on it. Speaking of betting, what about professional gamblers? Do you think they are driven by adrenaline? Why do seemingly normal people push themselves to take life-threatening risks? One theory proposes that they crave the rush of adrenaline. "Some people just need more stimulation than the average bear," said Eddie Vela, associate professor of psychology at California State University, Chico. "They're not crazy. They just want to push themselves and experience life" (Meyer, Orion, 1999).

They may also function as Cognitive and/or Emotive Personalities. They are just as likely to be stoic as to have bursts of strong emotions. Anger is an emotion ESs might feel comfortable displaying. How they express their emotions depends on their secondary personality type, which will be either emotive or cognitive. The archetype stoic cowboy's secondary function is cognitive. Jack Palance in City Slickers was a perfect example of this type.

They frequently consider themselves realists and they lean more toward pessimism than optimism. They appear quite calm-even dead-under pressure.

Sherlock Holmes's physician, partner and scribe, Dr. Watson, is an excellent example of an Experience Seeker with an emotive secondary function. He enjoys the adventure, but he is also an emotional person. As mentioned earlier, Sherlock is a thinker with a secondary personality type of ES. He is primarily interested in the intellectual challenge, not the adventure.

Remember, people cannot be precisely pigeonholed. A law enforcement officer who is primarily a caretaker may be in police work because she wants to serve and protect. In other words, she wants to protect the innocent, rather than chase the bad guys.

What happens if an ES goes to the dark side? Darth Vader . . . the adventurer turned evil enforcer. Darth Vader was the black-shrouded, deep-breathing nemesis to Star Wars heroes, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.

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