The Most Infectious Thing In The Whole World Right Now Is….

Fear

You read that right. Fear is the most infectious thing in the world today.

Coronavirus? It is not even close.

I was talking to a colleague from Poland. Kids have started going to school there and she feared what if they bring the infection? On the other hand, how will they cope in an environment where they are asked not to touch their friends or share things?

I live in India. Here, many people fear hunger more than Corona. 7000 people die of hunger every day. The numbers from Corona, though rising, are nowhere near that number. Most of them can’t afford to “work from home” like me. Either they risk going out and working, if it is available, or dying from hunger.

That sombre fact is sadly not only true for India, but also for much of the world. Around 9 million people die every year from hunger and hunger-related diseases. Don’t believe me?

Here is the world counter of deaths from hunger. It is scary to see one person added every second.

I am not belittling the deaths due to Corona. Neither am I saying it is not a serious problem. You could be from an asylum or the highest political office of the world to think like that.

I wear a mask in public, wash my hands dutifully and maintain my six feet of separation from others. You should too.

However doing all this will not prevent you from getting infected- from fear.

Fear is the most infectious thing in this world. And we have this infection spreading far faster than any virus on earth. It is also more damaging than anything else.

The Sources of Infection

Today there are many ways of spreading fear. You have Television, Social Media, Print Media and of course Fake Media which permeates all these modes.

They all prey on our primal fear, of dying. We imagine a million possibilities where things could go wrong and we end up dying. We love to imagine worst-case scenarios. We are primed for that.

Unfortunately, no wild animals are roaming free around to scare us now. We have already killed most of them. So we have to invent and construct new fears.

What if I get infected? What if I lose my job? What if I die?

Well, I have some surprising news for you. We all will die.

Valar Morghulis. All men must die. Women too, but usually a bit later. Death is inevitable and no amount of washing hands or worrying will make it go away.

“The classical man’s worst fear was inglorious death; the modern man’s worst fear is just death” - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

We have been fearing death since antiquity. Media loves to leverage our biggest fear. It helps us construct millions of what-ifs.

Not all of what Media does is fear-mongering, but much of it sadly does involve that.

People dying, is newsworthy. People surviving, is not.

When I was a kid, like many kids, I was fearful of the dark. My father told me a story to help me overcome that fear.

There was a thief who once went to the village cemetery in the night, to hide some pieces of gold he had stolen. He torch blew away with the wind and he was left in the dark.

Fear gripped him as he realised he was all alone in the dark in a cemetery. The howling wind started sounding like an old hag whispering the sombre song of the dead.

As he ran in panic, something gripped his left leg. He stumbled into the ground. Paralysed with fear, he cried for mercy, said his prayers to all the gods but to no avail.

In the morning the villagers found him. His feet stuck in the roots of the old banyan tree. He had died, not in the hands of any ghost. But from his own fear and panic.

We are like that thief today. We are paralysed with fear and letting others infect us. We actually pay them to infect us with fear.

Flattening The Fear Curve

Distance yourself from all sources of fear. Maintain social distancing from channels that feed upon your fear. Wash your hands off all media that tries to scare you. Unmask all scaremongers and the doomsayers.

They are not worth your time. This is a difficult time no doubt. It is difficult because you need to keep your head when all around you are running around like Chicken Little, telling each other that the sky is falling. If you look up to confirm the fact, you have already fallen prey to their game.

They will tell you that the financial market will collapse, countries will collapse and civilisation will collapse. They will mix lies with just enough truth for you to believe in everything they say.

Tough times don’t last. Tough people also, may not last. But those who can keep their wits and guts, will last.

This is not the time to panic. This is the time to learn. Use this opportunity to learn new things. Treat this crisis as a reset button.

Switch off the news channel and switch on your brains.

Learn a language, a musical instrument or better still how to whistle. For when others around you are shivering with fear, your can at least whistle your fears away.

Whenever I feel afraid I hold my head erect And whistle a happy tune So no one will suspect I’m afraid while shivering in my shoes I strike a careless pose And whistle a happy tune And no one ever knows I’m afraid The result of this deception Is very strange to tell For when I fool the people I fear I fool myself as well I whistle a happy tune And every single time The happiness in the tune Convinces me that I’m not afraid

- “I whistle a happy tune” song lyrics, from the movie “The King and I “