Fear All the Way Down
With the Coronavirus pandemic going on, I’ve been thinking about fear. I often think about fear… it’s my go-to character defect (or a “core competency” if I was in a job interview).
But in this case, my thoughts are less about my own fear and more about people’s reactions. There’s a lot of fear going around, but I’m wondering how much of it is truly about the virus.
One thing I’ve learned is… there is fear. But there is also Fear of Fear. So hold onto your hat. We’re about to get Meta.
Turtles and Buffaloes
Recursion is where something refers to itself. It can create infinite loops. A good way to understand recursion is through two examples.
First the turtles. A man and a woman are discussing what keeps the Earth from falling. The woman says the Earth doesn’t fall because it rests on the back of a giant turtle. When the man asks what keeps the turtle from falling, the woman replies, “It’s turtles all the way down!”
Next the buffaloes. It is a grammatically correct sentence to say, “Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” Here’s the explanation. For our purposes it is enough to know that you could repeat the word “buffalo” an infinite amount of times and still have a grammatically correct sentence.
I can keep adding buffaloes and I can keep adding turtles…all the way down.
Fear All the Way Down
Fear is recursive. Let’s see how.
Let’s say I’m afraid Person A won’t like me. Next, I might worry that if Person A doesn’t like me, then Persons B, C, and D will notice and will also not like me (because I’m unlikable, you see). And everyone knows that if you’ve lost A, B, C, and D you’ve lost E through Z.
Those followers.
Now I’m afraid that no one will like me. I notice how tense I feel, and I remember that appearing afraid is uncharismatic, and thus contributes to why people don’t like me, and then I’m afraid of my own worry surrounding my fear of being disliked.
Fear replicates itself. It is self-fueling, self-fulfilling, and self-stimulating. It is a positive feedback loop that will not end without some sort of outside intervention. Most modern fear is like this—not fear of a cause (e.g., a tiger chasing you), but reactions to successive layers of stacked worry.
What does this have to do with Coronavirus? You might have an idea already. There is certainly fear about the virus. But fear of a virus does not cause people to buy a year’s worth of toilet paper. Only Fear of Fear does that. How so?
A virus evokes fear in some people. Other people notice and think “people don’t act afraid unless there is a reason.” More people experience fear. One person prepares for the virus by buying a lot of toilet paper. Already worried people now worry toilet paper will run out. Everyone buys toilet paper.
Negative Feedback
Most of the time negative feedback is no fun. I doubt many of us look forward to performance reviews or comments on how dry our baked chicken was.
But with fear, negative feedback is good. Negative feedback means we are moving towards balance. If you find yourself worrying about Coronavirus, observe your feelings. Ask yourself if you are worried about the virus… or if you are worried about something around the virus (e.g., your job, family, toilet paper).
Answering the following question will let you know which it is: “Can I do anything about this?”
If “yes,” the worry is productive. You are now aware of an action you can take.
“No” means the worry is not productive. But there are still things you can do:
- Accept that you are not in control (I hate doing this)
- Breathe in for a count of 4, out for 8 (seriously – Many people stop breathing when stressed)
- Call someone you care about. Remember we’re in this together.
- Make a gratitude list. Maybe some things aren’t so great right now… but other things probably are.
- Wash your hands for 20 seconds 😊