Being Afraid (17 February 2010)
Have you noticed how many politicians and TV commentators want us to be afraid? It's understandable. Nothing catches a person's attention so quickly as fear. That is, after all, the function of the amygdala, the principal brain structure responsible for keeping us safe. The amygdala is fully functional at birth, and information from the external environment is filtered through the amygdala before going elsewhere in the brain.
We begin life with two basic fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. When we are in the womb, we can't fall, and loud noises are muffled, so it is understandable that those sensations would cause newborns to fear for their safety. Everything else that scares you is a learned response, and usually learned from others rather than through direct experience. You may have learned, for example, to be afraid of spiders and snakes because the adults around you panicked when they saw them. While some of the fears people learn along the way are logical, many are not. More people are afraid of flying than of driving, for example, even though more people are seriously injured or die in auto accidents than in plane crashes.
As I have watched TV coverage of political debates over the past couple of years, I have been increasingly interested in how viewpoints are framed in a way designed to produce an amygdala-driven fear response. Some things are, of course, dangerous, and you would do well to avoid them. Some spiders and snakes are poisonous, and you would do well to avoid kissing them on the lips. Most spiders and snakes, however, are not dangerous to humans and will do their best to avoid contact with us. Unless you know which are poisonous and which are not, it is best to be cautious. Bees and other stinging insects can also cause problems, especially for those who have an allergic response to being stung. It's wise to be cautious, but if your learned fear is so strong that you wreck your car because a bee decided to hitch a ride with you, you probably ought to see Debra or me (or another NLP practitioner) about your phobia.
One of the reasons that so much TV commentary and political talk is fear-based is that most people are more concerned about and focused on avoiding loss than they are on the possibility of gain. In the fable, the villagers "come running" when the boy cries "wolf" to avoid losing their sheep and the boy. The problem with crying "wolf," however, is that unless the wolf actually shows up from time to time, people stop believing a loss will occur. This is the function of the hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps the amygdala evaluate potential threats. Depending on the natural disposition and experience of different people, individual responses will vary. Some would be quick to say, "The boy is crying 'wolf' again, what does he take us for?" Others might fall for it every time and run themselves ragged in the process.
In the story, the wolf eventually does show up and eats the flock and the boy (it was a very hungry wolf). The moral stated at the end of the story is, "Even when liars tell the truth, they are never believed. The liar will lie once, twice, and then perish when he tells the truth." The foundation for this theory is that the hippocampus learns to ignore danger signals that prove false and teaches the amygdala to do the same. The amygdala can even learn to ignore loud noises and the sense of falling, or roller coasters would have never become a popular carnival ride. Given sufficient input from the hippocampus, the amygdala's sense of panic eventually subsides.
It's worth asking yourself the degree to which you should believe those who want you to spend most of your time feeling afraid. Even though your amydala may respond to some of the current words that are the metaphorical equivalent of "wolf" in the story (such as "socialist," "Nazi," "government take-over," "taxes," "terrorist," "global warming," "crime." or whatever word creates a fear response), stop ... and give your hippocampus an opportunity to evaluate the possibility of the potential threat. Is the boy crying wolf because he really is about to be eaten, or is he crying wolf because he enjoys seeing the villagers work themselves into a lather—or has a vested interest in getting the villagers to buy a certain product or vote a certain way.
In other words, follow the money. Who stands to gain if you and others work yourselves into a lather? When you know who stands to gain, your hippocampus can help the amygdala decide just how afraid you should be. Almost always, the answer is "not very," so start paying attention to fear-inducing ads and commentary while remembering that most snakes and spiders are not dangerous to humans. Snakes and spiders have nothing to gain (and a lot to lose) if you are afraid of them. Those responsible for the ads and commentary, however, intend to use your fear for personal gain. At such times, make sure that your hippocampus has what it needs to override the amygdala's automatic fear response.
And remember ... never cry "wolf" without good cause.
