Salutary fear

It’s October once again, and between National Mental Health Month and Halloween festivities, fear is on my mind.

The last time I wrote about fear was almost four years ago, with much of the world still in the midst of anti-COVID-19 measures. I can think of no other time in recent history that was so dominated by fear, in every facet of our lives, than the throes of the pandemic. But even now, when the virus has been relegated to background noise in the minds of those fortunate enough not to live with its after-effects, fear remains prevalent.

I do not necessarily say this as an indictment of the present day. The fact is that fear is simply a fact of human life. It is one of the earliest emotions we experience and, for many, one of the last as well. It is one of the clearest of emotions – we may be confused as to whether what we feel is love or not, but we are almost always certain if we are afraid. Fear is like a gas that expands to fill its vessel, something that we cannot look beyond. We are taught to look at fear as a negative emotion, taught to be brave and fearless and to not succumb to its pull.

But for all that, fear is still something that many of us – as individuals and as a culture – actively seek out or use. Fear is the instrument that many parents use to keep their children in line, to keep them safe. Fear of the law is what states use to maintain order when it comes to those who would otherwise act against (what is defined as) the public good. Fear is something many seek out, thrilling to scenes of carnage and tragedy in film or literature… A catharsis through play, the ability to experience our fears in a safe space.

That is not the kind of fear that we need to be careful of. As I wrote before, fear is something that has a place in our lives – it is the price we pay for being able to imagine our future, and an essential shortcut that protects us from immediate threats. But the danger of fear lies with that very nature – it allows us to act quickly precisely because it is a shortcut, specifically cutting out reasoning in favor of reaction. In the world we live in today, however, reason can and must play a role in filtering what we fear.

Fear is not only biological – it is learned, transmitted and expressed through culture. And what can be learned can be unlearned, or learned in a different way. If we fear the wrong things, the results can be catastrophic: we see that with children whose parents were more afraid of vaccines than of the diseases they inoculated against. If we fear the right things, but to a disproportionate degree – the so-called “probability neglect” where a potential risk produces such an intense emotional response that we confuse the possible with the probable – then we not only risk making similarly bad decisions but also damaging our mental health.

In the modern times we live in, where the internet is a click away – a repository of unverified information and algorithms meant to affirm our biases – if mere statements and anecdotes are enough to inspire great fear, or even anger or hate, then we will rapidly overwhelm our mind’s capacity to deal with these fears and emotions. Fear serves a role, yes, but as an engine of action, whether it be fight or flight. A fear of too many things will paralyze us, prevent us from taking action and keep us from taking the steps we need to in order to protect ourselves and those we love from real and immediate dangers. What good is such fear then?

It is this kind of unreasoning fear that we must guard against, this kind of fear that we must unlearn. Information is not the same as education, and in these times of AI-enabled mistakes and misinformation, it is all the more important that we teach Filipinos to think critically and to cultivate an attitude that values investigation and verification. To take our time before arriving at conclusions, to examine evidence, biases and contradictions. To arrive at our decisions in ways that are transparent and accountable, not just based on tradition, gossip, speculative theories or gut feelings.

There is no shame in feeling fear. Fear is a natural function of being human, of living within a culture. Fear tells us a lot about ourselves, because what we are most afraid of will usually point to what we most desire to protect. We can use our own fear to keep us safe, to change our environment, to better our world.

But this is only possible for so long as we have a fear that acts as a motivating force, not as a shackle. A fear that approximates what historian and diplomat Alexis De Tocqueville called the “salutary fear,” which “makes men keep watch and ward for freedom, not with that faint and idle terror which depresses and enervates the heart.”

And if so much unreasonable fear is caused by the unknown, then the cure for it then is to know – to learn, to discover, to educate and empower ourselves with the truth. As the scientist Marie Curie said: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”

May we all understand more, and fear less, in the coming days.

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For those dealing with great fears, you can reach out to the National Center for Mental Health Crisis Hotline in the following ways: Nationwide: 1553 or 1800-1888-1553, SMART: 0919-057-1553, GLOBE: 0917-8998727.

Website: https://www.ncmhusaptayo.com/landing