Uncertainty

I had a conversation the other day, and something came up where I said that uncertainty is rooted in fear, and people are not wired to live in fear all the time.

It’s the other way around though, I have realized. Fear stems from uncertainty about something. See a rattlesnake in your bedroom? Instant panic. See a rattlesnake in a tank in the zoo? Apprehension, maybe, but no full-fledged fear, unless you have a phobia. You can relate this to any situation, physical or emotional. Fear comes from a lack of reasonable certainty that you are safe, in whatever respect. The larger the deficit of certainly, the more pronounced the fear is. And the more pronounced the fear, the higher the probability (certainty) that we will act upon it.

Humans, for the most part, go to great lengths to avoid or minimize uncertainty. There are industries focused, at least in part, on the study of risk management. We buy insurance. We stay in shitty situations because we can’t handle the fear of being outside of something known. We don’t go after our dreams for the same reason.

It seems that to conquer your fear in a situation, you have to increase your tolerance for fear, because the uncertainty is certain.