Fear is everywhere, and it’s working.
Whether we are listening or not, we are constantly bombarded by information about terrifying things that could be or are happening. Agitation and dread are being poured all over the political arena like chocolate sauce over a sundae made for a five-year-old, by a five-year-old. And as certain primary results suggest, this approach of using fear as a tool of manipulation in politics is very effective.
Why is fear-based messaging such a successful approach? The answer lies in our biology.
Fear is an ancient phenomenon. It existed in animals that were around long before we were. In fact, the brain structures that governed instinctual fear in ancient reptiles are very similar to the ones that initiate our modern human fight or flight responses. Yes, today’s crocodiles, snakes and turtles all have a region in their brain responsible for understanding threats that is not terribly different from the one we use when feeling a number of emotions, including fear, rage and joy.
We, as mammals however, have a number of hardware upgrades which manifest in merged instinctual, emotional and learning centers of the brain that can both help and hurt us. While we can use our brain version 2.0 to better manage our fear, we can also use this sophistication to fear completely unfounded and abstract threats. Think about how many times you have imagined some completely unlikely terrifying scenario that might befall you: like falling into the abyss of sidewalk grates.
The more a message engages our emotional response system, the more likely the event or message is to sink in. Have you met anyone who doesn’t remember where they were on September 11th?
The question then becomes whether or not we will conscientiously engage our higher order brain regions, the ones that we do not have in common with reptiles, to think critically and rationally about the real-world implications of messages of fear or hate. And thankfully, there is research that can help us build and empower the uniquely human part of our brains (stay tuned for our next newsletter) in order to “tame” that volatile lizard within each of us.
Coming up: We will share approaches for dealing with overly active lizard brains in the classroom, as well as in work and family life.