How Does Fear Drive Decisions?

  Emotions are a core part of human nature; they play a big role in the actions we take in our day-to-day lives, how we interact with others, and how we grow as a society. Fear, however, is at the forefront of all these emotions, being a leader in our decision-making processes. So, the question is this: how does fear drive our decisions?

One example would be what we do and don't fear. In "What You Don't Know Can Kill You," by Jason Daley, and "What Are You So Afraid Of?" by Akiko Busch, people tend to be more afraid of rare, grandiose dangers, such as shark attacks and skydiving incidents, rather than things that kill hundreds each day, such as cigarette smoking and car crashes. When people are more alarmed by situations that would never affect a vast majority of the population, rather than vices and accidents that affect people every day, their senses of judgement can be clouded, leading them to confront these more common dangers with less caution than they should.

But what about moments when there is something rational to be scared of, something needing to be dealt with immediately? When it's the heat of the moment, when all the cards are down and you have nothing left in your head but fear, that's when your instincts kick in. Being deathly afraid of something triggers a fight or flight response in the brain, to either retaliate against whatever is unnerving you, or run away. A car zooming toward you. A mugger flashing a knife dark alleyway. When an unusually great amount of fear runs through you, it can decide what you do next. As seen in "Ambush," by Tim O-Brien, the author, resting in the middle of a war battleground, was so frightened by the sight of a potentially dangerous enemy soldier that he ripped the pin from a grenade and threw it at the man's feet, all without intending to do so. Panic took over, and when he finally realized what was happening, it was too late.

When fear isn't temporary or rational, however, when the fear of the unknown sticks with us for months, years, it can be detrimental to society as a whole. "The Crucible," by Arthur Miller, shows us what can happen when fear goes too far. When people meet with something they don't know, something that could be a potential threat, often times they meet this threat with violence and persecution. Mirroring the real-life Red Scare of the time (a rapid spread of panic regarding communism in 1940s America,) characters in Salem are exiled by their witch-fearing community before having a chance to plea their cases, and sent to trial before judges that too are terrified by potential witchcraft. Without any proof or ability to defend against these accusations, these townsfolk are hanged on the basis of fear. Even today this still rings true, with people still having to fight oppression and discrimination originating from these same scares.

Humans fear many things. Their subsequent reactions have had great impacts on our world and society at large. But, what we learn to fear and not to fear, and what we decide to do about that fear, will determine how we continue as  a species and community into the future.