3 minute read
A couple of months ago my car was incapacitated for a few days, so I found myself riding to work via Uber. One morning, the driver, making conversation, saw the scrubs I was wearing and asked what I knew about COVID-19. I explained that I work for a clinic where we are testing several related vaccines and have a good understanding of the situation. He had heard conflicting information that ranged between claims it was a hoax to it being the end of the world. After enlightening him with facts — be careful, but not paranoid — I told him I noticed he was a man of faith because his radio was tuned to the local Christian station. I reminded him of 2 Timothy 1:7, which says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and sound mind.”
In the ensuing weeks I have repeated that conversation with several other people, and it has led me to think more deeply about fear as an entangling phenomenon in our present culture. There will always be circumstances in life that cause concern, but using those fears to manipulate is a dangerous game that influencers too often play. Fright is a potent motivator that hijacks the normal processes of the brain. H.L Mencken wrote, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed – and hence clamorous to be led to safety – by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” Applications of this concept are found all throughout not just politics, but also religion, sales, relationships, and so much more.
The human brain has a protective capacity for dealing with frightening experiences. Because we are animals, we have the fight or flight response that is observed in the wild. A threat appears, and the brain immediately responds by its amygdala taking control. The higher reasoning functions of the prefrontal cortex (the brain’s seat of critical thinking and perception of consequences) are bypassed, since there’s possibly no time to ponder options in a real life or death predicament. Chemically, fear causes a spike in adrenalin to speed the response, and a flood of cortisol causes the body’s metabolic processes to supply plenty of energy to facilitate it, reducing inflammation, too. If the brain experiences too much of these hormones for a prolonged duration, it becomes dependent upon them.
Interestingly, neuroscientists have found that having a larger amygdala has a strong correlation to being predisposed to fear of change and a stronger fear response, in general. So, some people are naturally more likely to respond to fear-based messaging. Marketing specialists, evangelists, politicos, lobbyists, and countless others have learned to harness and enhance this tendency to create and perpetuate tribalism, purchasing choices, religiosity, social stratification, economics, etc.
Going back to the passage I quoted earlier from 2 Timothy, and generalizing it to be applicable to all people (not just those who are guided by the writings in the Christian Bible), messages of love, security, and actualization are benevolently given. Those that invoke fear, insecurity, and a sense of helplessness in the face of insurmountable odds are something other. The Judeo-Christian Bible contains several hundred instances of people being told not to fear. It’s a metanarrative of the extended story, and it resonates with most common sense ideals.
There is a growing number of people these days exhibiting signs of PTSD from their religious experiences, exhaustion from politics, and impatience with the global pandemic. They are practically numb from overexposure to fear stimuli, and they are pulling away from the situations that feed it to them. In the religious world, this phenomenon is discussed with the labels Nones and Dones, referring to those claiming either no religious fealty and those who are just done with it. Similar categorizations may soon be identified for those who are burned out from media fear-mongering.
The bottom line: if someone is preying upon insecurities and fears to influence a decision, one must assess their motives. Is it for political power by scaring citizens into giving up their rights or the rights of others? Maybe it’s for religious prestige by chalking up more conversions from literally scaring the Hell out of people. Perhaps it could be increasing gun sales by stoking worries of widespread weapon siezures. How about keeping someone in an unhealthy relationship by making them feel dependent? Is it preventing raises for the average employees by claiming a need for austerity so the CEO can get a bigger bonus? The list goes on and on. Be aware, ask questions, demand answers, and push back toward a healthy outlook. We are only puppets on the fear-mongers’ strings if we permit it.
