Until recently, I had never given much thought to the Seals. Nor, I daresay, had most Americans. While the US military unit has existed for decades, working as the main special operations force for the Navy (“Seals” derives from the fact that they operate on sea, air and land) it has traditionally operated below the radar; it prefers to stay out of the public debate – and the public mind.

No longer. Three weeks ago, a unit of the Seals performed an audacious, high-profile assassination of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. Now popular culture in America – and elsewhere in the west – is agog about the physical prowess of these highly toned men who suffer hellish tests in order to enter this elite killing machine.

Amid all the excitement about the Seals’ brawn, interesting issues are now developing about the Seals’ brains; or, more specifically, about the mental map that the American special forces are using to look at the world.