Fear and Anger
The human brain is an intricate and adaptive organ, capable of shifting gears to navigate different situations—just as a car changes gears to handle different terrains. In times of calm, our brains allow for deep, rational thought. But when faced with stress or threats, we shift into a different mode, triggering survival instincts.
When we are "cruising" we can engage in deep rational thinking. We can step back and think more critically. We can see things more objectively. When we encounter stress, fear, or threats, our bodies react instinctively. Blood is redirected from our brains to our muscles, preparing us for action—often making us angry. This heightened state makes us stronger and faster but comes at the cost of clear, rational thinking. Fear changes our priorities and heightens our focus on self-preservation. The parts of the brain responsible for reason and long-term thinking give way to more primitive instincts focused on the present.
This evolutionary ability to shift quickly has helped humans survive in a world full of threats. There is safety in numbers by working together as a group to defend ourselves. When threatened, we choose sides, teaming up with those we feel will give us the most protection. We rally the wagons and "herd up." It becomes "us" vs. "them." Mob mentality" creeps in. Subtlety gets lost.
Fear does not only come from actual threats, it comes equally from perceived threats. It doesn't matter if a person is actually in danger, only that they believe they are in danger. Fear and anger generate hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol that "shift the gears" in our brains. Small threats can quickly snowball into overwhelming anxieties, making small threats seem more imminent or likely than they actually are. Fear-driven headlines and anger-inducing stories are more likely to capture our attention—a fact well understood by politicians and media outlets.
| "Fear is pain arising from the anticipation of evil." - Aristotle |
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It has long been recognized that reason isn't at its best when we are angry. As early as the 5th century BCE, Sun-Tzu in "The Art of War" discussed how an angry general would make bad decisions. There are numerous mantras that we try to follow based on this, e.g. "let cooler heads prevail" and the value of "sleeping on it." I think most of us have later regretted decisions we have made in anger, recognizing that we "let our anger get the best of us." And yet, increasingly public debate occurs during anger. Talk shows and debates seem to encourage those on both sides to get angry at each other. Those are often the "sound-bites" we see.
Fight rhetoric has creeped into our day-to-day lives. Candidates on both sides tell their supporters that they will "fight for them" and now often demonize those who disagree, sometimes even calling them "the enemy". Those who do so rile up both sides. It encourages their supporters to stand with them, BUT it also encourages those who oppose them to fight back, creating more polarization. Instead of democracy being an opportunity for a win-win synergy that builds on the best of competing ideas, it often seen as a war between Democrat and Republican, conservative and liberal, rural and urban, immigrant and native-born.
Polarization tends to emphasize/exaggerate the wrongness of the other side and the rightness of our side. We see the other side as all sharing the same extreme ideology. It is important to recognize that these are universal human traits, not flaws. Evolution favored these traits because they give us the best chance of survival. In survival mode, empathy takes a backseat. But in a functioning society, recognizing our shared humanity is crucial to bridging divides before they escalate into irreconcilable conflicts. When polarization reaches a breaking point, the result is war.
| "Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends." - Shirley MacLaine |
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