What Tempts You To Fear?

In our brain, the amygdala controls the "fight or flight" response to the information our senses detect. However, humanity doesn't respond in unison to each sensory input.

A bump in the night wakes us out of a dead sleep, to reach for the nightstand gun. Some joker behind a keyboard spends two minutes to create a meme threatening to take something you hold dear, and we are ready to storm the courthouse.

The visceral response to fear is a far stronger motivator than the good news dopamine rush. Consider the campaign messages during your last election. The commercials promote each candidate as the protector of your interests from the jackals on the other side. The onslaught of doom and gloom is unrestrained, with a smidge of "motherhood and apple pie" to make the picture look rosy.

As a thought experiment, watch the commercials for elections in a foreign country, where you don't have a vested interest, and look for the fearmongering. Then return to your election propaganda and look for similarities.

Fear of missing out (FOMO) became a buzzword in recent years. This thought of missing out on the deal of a lifetime propels risky investments and long work hours. Or perhaps a commitment postponed to the one in front of you because someone else, a little sexier, may knock on the door.

The world can be scary, and enough agendas are mashing the fear button for more than a lifetime. Self-awareness of your unique fear triggers offers a chance to interrupt the amygdala's willingness to look for ways to confirm your fears during the daily blitzkrieg and give hope for discerning the truth of the situation (good news dopamine rush). Or dismiss this idea, and be sucked into the vortex of paralyzing fear for the rest of your life (fearmongering to engage the amygdala). One of those two perspectives probably caught your attention more than the other, and I'll bet a nickel, I know which one.

So, what tempts you to fear?