Are You Afraid?

So, imagine for a second, you are in a crowd of people, many of which you do not know, but some you do.  Then suddenly, one of your friends comes and tells you that the crowd is about to be captured by, let's say, the government.  You ask where did they find that out, and they will tell you they heard it from someone in the front of the crowd.

Now, if this is true, you do not have much time.  You have to let everyone know what is going on, to warn everyone that something disastrous is about to occur.  You tell the person next to you, the one in front of you, the people behind you, and you make sure that they spread the word around to everyone else.

Phase three of what happens is that people begin to panic.  They begin to ask "Why is this happening?" and "We need to get out!"  The crowd becomes restless, and eventually, the second someone says something different, they are immediately ignored.  Finally, the fuse it set off -- everyone begins to act frantically, run around, and freak out about imprisonment.

That is until one lone person stands up, yells at everyone to stop, and directs everyone to point their blame on the government.

And there you have it -- alas, fear prevails again.  Well actually, that was also a demonstration of mob psychology (a different topic for another day).  Did anyone bother to ask if there was any other evidence besides spoken word?  Or how about looking at another perspective, at an argument that stated that the metaphorical British were not coming?

This is the way fear works -- to wrap around the mind and touch the irrational -- is all too effective at dictating what people do.  After all, why else would anyone throw salt over their shoulder if they did not feel the world was out to spite them.

The ability of fear to triumph over reason has been used throughout history for the good and the bad (and the grey).  And it has been used to create extreme intrigue, topple empires, establish religions, and even to this day, fear encourages parents to train their children with Mozart in the womb, if only for their bloodline's failure.

As a psychological tool, it can be used to determine the composure of any human being, or to persuade any person to bring others to their side, no matter how ridiculous it is.  Such was the case in the youth of America, where young women who were considered different fell victim to the fear of colonists -- and thus were hanged as witches on the grounds of Salem.

But whether it be "government death panels" or "global warming is burning the world," fear will always be one of the strongest deterrents and rally points in any civilization.  An achilles' heel for the logical and the plain, while extremely neurotic and sadly persistent, is an integral part of the human condition.