F.E.A.R — False Expectations Appearing Real

Because they may be.

I am a big fan of Les Brown, and the title of this blog comes straight from one of his speeches. I have been listening to Les Brown for over five years now, but I only recently made complete sense of this phrase. In this article, I will try to explain — Why and How?

What is fear?

Motivational speakers are known for their powerful quotes. Most of them make sense, but their effect lasts for a few hrs or, at max, a few days. I like to feel these quotes to be able to implement and grow in my life. To do so, I will put each speech on repeat and then dissect every part for a long-lasting effect.

I followed the same process after listening to the phrase:

F.E.A.R — False Expectations Appearing Real

Firstly, I did a google search to find the dictionary meaning of the word — “FEAR”

Amygdala : A workaholic psychopath

Photo by Ishan @seefromthesky on Unsplash

If the brain is a multinational organization, Amygdala is a workaholic psychopath who takes the job a little too seriously. Jokes apart, Amygdala is an almond-shaped cluster of cells located near the base of the brain and is stimulated by possibilities of physical harm.

Amygdala prepares our bodies to safeguard us from physical damage. Its primary job was to warn us of danger in pre-historic times, where we were always on the run for food, shelter, and safety.

In today’s world, Amygdala does not have much work to do. We have houses to live in, food to eat, and laws to protect us. The possibility of a sudden and unplanned attack is minimal as compared to pre-historic days. Hence Amygdala fills in the remaining hours by generating anxiety.

Amygdala creates anxiety for fun even though it does not fit its job description. Isn’t that a typical behavior of a workaholic psychopath?

Thinking Fast and Slow

It’s easy to blame Amygdala during these anxious times. After all, the brain is a complex masterpiece, and Amygdala is a minor component in it.

Hence, I will shift my focus from Amygdala to something which could explain why fear paralyzes us from exploring things in life. After some reading, I could find the answer in the book ‘Thinking fast and slow” by Daniel Kahneman.

In this book, Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman has published details of his research focusing on two thinking systems — Fast brain and Slow brain. These systems are not disparate parts of the brain and in no way should be confused as hemispheres. These systems are like agents who work with each other to help us finish any task.

Fast brain ……. Thinking fast

Fast thinking is associated with an easy and mundane task — for example, sitting on a chair. It’s not a demanding task, and the body performs the job without breaking a sweat.

Let’s try and understand this with an example of a smartphone. In today’s world, a smartphone is a necessity. A smartphone allows us to do many things on the run, like sending a WhatsApp message or browsing some news.

Apart from the usual wear and tear, the smartphone will work at optimal performance. You open apps with the help of a touch, perform your task, and move. Easy-peasy, isn’t it? The screen of the smartphone is the starting point of any activity. It’s the front door that accepts all requests.

Similarly, the fast brain is the front door for any task taken up by the human body. Its role is to find the easiest way to process the job and move on to the next one.

When the task is complex, it’s scared and anxious, and it calls for help. The help comes from the other system, Dan mentioned in his book. This system is known as Thinking Slow.

Slow Brain………….Thinking slow

The slow brain is activated and brought into the picture when the fast brain cannot find an easy solution for a problem — for example, solving a complex mathematical problem or giving undivided attention to your spouse (pun intended).

I will again use the example of the smartphone to explain the functioning of the slow brain. Let’s say you are using your smartphone to attend a conference call. While listening to other members in the meeting, you are switching screens to respond to emails, downloading and uploading attachments, and in between responding to your partner’s messages on WhatsApp.

The phone’s battery is draining fast, and you switch it to low power mode to finish your call. Opting to use the smartphone on low power mode will impact performance and display.

The Slow Brain works the same while working on complex tasks. It’s like a smartphone on low power mode. Whenever the Slow Brain is activated, our focus is limited to the most critical task at hand.

Dan has used the experiment of the “Invisible Guerrilla” to demonstrate this fact. In this experiment, Dan showed how people could not see the guerrilla when assigned the complex task of counting the number of passes in a basketball game.

Our body, like our smartphone, gives physical clues while working on a complex task. In the book, Dan has explained how our pupils react when asked to work on complex tasks. Dan and his team could correctly predict when the subject has either given up or solved the challenging task by looking at the pupils.

The pupils dilate while performing a difficult task. Dan and his team documented the changes in the subject’s pupil during the experiment. “The pupils reflect the extent of mental effort in an incredibly precise way,” Kahneman said

How does the brain create fear?

Our fast brain always looks for a straightforward solution. It notes the tiring experience during all complex activities and warns the body whenever similar requests arrive in the future.

If the brain had to spend a lot of energy performing a task, the fast brain would use the experience to stop us from taking up another challenging task.

I will try to explain this with another example. A prevalent form of anxiety is Dental anxiety. Dental pain is one of the worst pain a human body can experience. A dental infection has the capability of a heart attack.

But is there a guarantee that we will be feeling the same kind of pain every time we step into a dental clinic? No. The fast brain’s role creates a FALSE EXPECTATION of the pain, BECOMING REAL.

What is the solution?

Unfortunately, we live in an era where we want answers for everything, and the most straightforward answer is mostly not the immediate solution. According to my understanding, the answer is in being mindful — yes, mindful.

Mindfulness will not alter the behaviour of the slow and fast brain It will improve the way we cope with it. In short, it gives us ways to handle our anxiety.

While using our smartphones, we cannot increase the battery life, yet we can be mindful of the phone’s usage. We can use a power bank or FFS; leave it in our pockets for some time.

One of the reasons meditation and spiritual living are becoming a status symbol is that people are tired of running after things. We want to experience everything, earn millions, become Einstein and Zuckerberg simultaneously, but we forget to visit the most adventurous and fulfilling planet — the world that lies within us.

Know thyself — a phrase coined by Socrates but barely understood by most readers — is the place to be. It’s an essential task to tick off it off our bucket list. It’s more than just important. It’s critical. Critical! If we really want to be the masters of our mind and the captain of our fate — we must know ourself.

Tarun