While the world has generally become a safer place, the idea is that we are collectively more afraid. “Deciding on the basis of fear does not automatically mean that you are irrational,” says psychologist Bram Vervliet, who has been researching the meaning of fear for twenty years.
Bram Vervliet has been researching fear for over twenty years. His publications are eagerly devoured by a limited group of colleagues around the world. “But of course that doesn’t have a broad impact. I wanted to disseminate the knowledge I’ve collected all this time more widely,” he says about his motivations for writing a book about fear for a wide audience. “In addition, in recent years I have been approached more and more by the media, especially since the terrorist threat. I received provocative questions that pulled me out of my niche and had to look for broader answers, for example about social fear. While I was in my lab researching fear, I didn’t realize that a world without fear is humanity’s primary goal.The discovery that a ‘life free from fear and want’ is in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights described as the highest ideal of man, was for me a kind of revelation.”
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Bram Vervliet has been researching fear for over twenty years. His publications are eagerly devoured by a limited group of colleagues around the world. “But of course that doesn’t have a broad impact. I wanted to disseminate the knowledge I’ve collected all this time more widely,” he says about his motivations for writing a book about fear for a wide audience. “In addition, in recent years I have been approached more and more by the media, especially since the terrorist threat. I received provocative questions that pulled me out of my niche and had to look for broader answers, for example about social fear. While I was in my lab researching fear, I didn’t realize that a world without fear is humanity’s primary goal.The discovery that a ‘life free from fear and want’ is in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights described as the highest ideal of man, was for me a kind of revelation.” That was the reason to find out whether we have become less afraid in recent decades. Is that right? BRAM LEAVES. “I have indeed wondered whether we have become more afraid or less afraid. I do not find it easy to make a statement about that, because you find different figures. We live healthy, prosperous and safe, but in the meantime there are other, new things that worry us, and I’ve also wondered why so many people have anxiety disorders, although that doesn’t mean those numbers are increasing, because they aren’t.” We may strive for a world without fear, but we need fear to function, according to the many studies you cite. LEAVES. “A world without fear is of course unattainable. The question is whether it is desirable. Fear and fear are innate, it is an evolutionary mechanism for survival. But in the last twenty years there has also been a lot of evidence that fear is closely related to caring. That has become known as the frightened ape hypothesis. Humans are much more frightened than chimpanzees and bonobo, even toddlers react more frightened to new things than chimpanzees and bonobos their age. That fear provokes concern. So fear is not alone evolutionarily explained, it is an important lubricant in society to regulate flows of care. We recognize fear in others well, that is important for that care.” So why do we look so negatively at fear? LEAVES. “Because of course it is not a pleasant feeling. Anyone who suffers from fears can confirm this. Remember that up to 30 percent of people will suffer from an anxiety disorder or phobia at some point in their life. Usually these phobias do not have too much of an impact, until you find yourself in a situation where you become afraid. That is such a negative feeling that you immediately want it to stop. Running away from a threatening situation therefore also immediately feels good. If fear were a nice feeling, we would not run away from danger .” In the book you often talk about unjustified fear. But how do I know when a fear is unjustified? Am I unjustly afraid of financial setbacks, of global warming or of the consequences of the war in Ukraine? LEAVES. “I think you get far there with the distinction between fear, fear and panic. That has to do with the proximity of the threat. With fear, your senses are open, you are focused on possible danger. Like now with the war in Ukraine : then it’s good to be anxious, in the sense that you’re observant, and that’s especially true for our politicians and policy makers. That’s different from running around in panic all day and not being able to fall asleep at night “That would be unfair, because it is paralyzing and does not help you move an inch. But being careful and monitoring the situation closely is of course good. And then you might decide to finally install those solar panels. That is a decision that makes sense , even if it initially stems from fear of the consequences of the war.” So fear is not so bad. What you do with it is important? LEAVES. “Fear is a sense of urgency, it means that something valuable is at stake. I often find that we lump things together when we talk about fear. In a discussion it quickly turns to ‘fearmongering’. Take it wearing a bicycle helmet. Some say: that’s scaremongering. But it’s not. It’s a personal assessment of a risk, and you weigh up how unpleasant you find it to wear that helmet, based on a real danger. That doesn’t mean you’re being irrational, I see it in many debates about climate, migration, economy or inequality: when people don’t agree with a point of view, they quickly talk about ‘being afraid’, then they mean it. people act out of fear. That is like saying: they are irrational. With the logical consequence: I am rational. While they say the same thing about you. I do see a danger in that, because that way you push people away from the debate .” So you have to take those fears seriously, but when making a decision you have to distance yourself from them. Can we learn that? LEAVES. “Certainly. What is distancing? We often say: that is placing the ratio above the emotion. But what actually happens is that you focus on one thing that is important and that suddenly gets all the attention. You can do this by also taking other things into account. Then you make estimates that are based on more than on that one feeling.” You have talked extensively in the book about metaphors and how they are used by media, industry and politicians to steer people in a certain direction. Is it that easy to scare people? LEAVES. “It must touch on something that people find important, you cannot just frighten people randomly. It must have a breeding ground, an unrest about changes that you feel. In this way you can strengthen latent feelings of fear. The important thing is the underlying conviction of what is important in life. We wonder where to focus our attention. One says climate, another inequality, another migration. The fear of the possible consequences is used to put a topic at the top of the urgency list This is how politics works: you have a limited budget and many needs. What needs are you going to use that money for? And that also happens in a company, and on a smaller scale at home. Then the question is: what do I find most valuable in this moment? What am I going to bet my money on?” You find metaphors more dangerous than internet bubbles, while those bubbles can also confirm prejudices and certain ideas. LEAVES. “I especially wanted to make it clear that metaphors, which we have been used to for a long time, are sometimes more dangerous than new phenomena. Everyone is now focusing on those bubbles, but we don’t really know how they work yet. That makes them seem more dangerous. But metaphors are like silent killers in society, we’ve become so used to them that we don’t see them anymore. Metaphors are very devious, we often don’t notice them.” But isn’t it clear from much imagery that it is imagery? In a trade war, we know that there is no fighting with weapons. LEAVES. “Absolutely, but it triggers everything.” Is that right? Or does it describe an existing situation? LEAVES. “It is very important which words you choose. If such a word is used often, it really colors how we deal with a situation. You can describe the increase in burnout as a slight increase or as an epidemic. And I I understand that as a speaker you want to demonstrate a certain urgency with this, but it also influences the solutions we come up with. And if you attribute it to individualism or capitalism or to other major phenomena in society, you give the impression that we are powerless against it, while you can also think more solution-oriented, because an illness such as burnout or depression often has a direct cause.” While you also write that socio-economic factors also play a role. LEAVES. “The financial crisis and the euro crisis have seriously affected many people, that’s for sure. Those who graduated during that period ended up in a world of gigantic uncertainty. These are things that can influence anxiety, depression and burn-outs. Be sure to look at it. That is now topical again, with the rising energy prices. You can more or less prepare yourself for slow increases, but sudden increases can be very threatening for many people. This is also reflected in Mark Elchardus’ studies on the belief that society is deteriorating and that this affects one’s own expectations for the future. You feel like a plaything of greater powers, you have no control. That is a difficult split: we are hungry for information, we get it, but we have little personal power to express themselves about the major developments that are taking place. This makes us feel powerless and that causes unrest.” Isn’t it just human to focus on the negative? That one negative comment often lingers longer than a compliment. LEAVES. “Unfortunately, that is generally human. We naturally live in a society of progress and the only way to do that is to keep focusing on the negative. You want to put that on one and solve it. That has already brought us a lot as a society. The big challenge is to accept that the world is already good as it is now, and in the meantime continue to focus on change.” Your conclusion is: if we want less fear in society, we must give priority to combating poverty by means of a basic income. Because poverty has a double effect: poor people are more likely to become anxious and depressed, and depression and anxiety promote poverty. Do we as a society pay enough attention to this? LEAVES. “It is being researched at our universities, but I have the impression that there is less attention for it than twenty years ago. There is a lot of attention for mental well-being, especially since the corona pandemic, but that will certainly not help everyone. a large group that we cannot reach with psychotherapy. Even more efforts need to be made to reach the poorer, sometimes hidden layers of the population.”