Question: Recently I walked through Dolomites in Italy, and there was a warning sign that this is bear-encounter area. There were tips on what to do in general. But one of tips was "if bear approaches you aggressively, don't move and be passive".

Bears in this area are brown.

Why? If bear wants to eat me or kill me, I would prefer to make it at least a bit more difficult to him. I know I will die anyway, so why wouldn't I at least try to die "like a manly man (TM)".

Answer: 
Brown bears mostly just want to assert dominance. By being passive/playing dead it is more likely to "give up" and walk away than keep attacking. [Per NPS...](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bears/safety.htm#:%7E:text=Brown%2FGrizzly%20Bears%3A%20If%20you,the%20bear%20in%20the%20face.)

> 
> **Brown/Grizzly Bears**: If you are attacked by a brown/grizzly bear, leave your pack on and **PLAY DEAD**. Lay ﬂat on your stomach with your hands clasped behind your neck. Spread your legs to make it harder for the bear to turn you over. Remain still until the bear leaves the area. Fighting back usually increases the intensity of such attacks. However, if the attack persists, fight back vigorously. Use whatever you have at hand to hit the bear in the face.
> 
> 
> 

An important note that this doesn't hold true for all kinds of bears. See the above link for more general info on bear attacks.
When faced with a brown bear ( in Wyoming, near Yellowstone ), while on hands and knees in a small tent ( middle of night) ; I gently but firmly said "shoo bear". I thought a loud noise might upset it. After repeating shoo several times he walked away. It was good that he had already taken anything he wanted out of the cooler chest he broke open. ( They do not like tomatoes or mustard). This may not have been the recommended action , but the bear was 10 ft away and the car was about 30 ft, I thought running was a low odds choice.