Fear in decision making

Last night, at the Ideas Cafe, we discussed how fear played in our decision making.

As usual, I learned some interesting ideas while the discussion moved in various directions.

I had thought of the topic as it seems to me a lot of times we decide on the basis of least harm done out of the options we have rather than the most good achieved.  The attack ads in an election is a good example of this and buying something on the basis that it is least likely to break or cause maintenance issues is another.

Mano thinks it is just being practical to buy things based on it not breaking or being able to return it.  But if that is the reason for not buying something that is newer, better, or different, then is being practical just an excuse for fearful of take a chance?

Mano also mentioned the Barry Goldwater election back in the 60s when the other side used an advertisement of a child pulling out petals from a flower that then turned into the mushroom cloud of an atomic bomb.  This is the other side's way of saying we cannot trust Barry Goldwater with the power of a president and the responsibility of to use or not to use nuclear weapons.  The advertisement was only used briefly but the image stuck.

Fear works more with older, conservative decision makers and can be used to confuse the situation so that the decision is not based on the overall picture but concentrated on avoiding a particular fear.

Shula thinks that fear is an emotional response to trigger fight or flight and therefore tends to be a fast reacting but not always resulting in a logical decision outcome.  With training, soldiers, fire fighters and other workers facing fearful situations can be trained to make better decisions rather than follow the emotional reaction.

Rafi made the point that we need to be imaginative to be fearful.  A less imaginative person cannot see what bad situations one can get into.  It may be the reason why younger people are less fearful because they have experienced less negative experiences in life and do not imagine the various negative scenarios.

Mark said courage is required to conquer or suppress our fears. We had a discussion on what constitute a courageous act.  Is it measured by exceeding normal modes of risk taking or would personal attempts to get over the fear of heights, flying, or crossing the road also be considered courageous.  Maybe it needs to achieve a useful end for taking that risk.

Fear and worry in decision making are similar but perhaps differ in degree.  The language is mixed here and sometimes confusing "I am afraid that..."expresses a worry.

Of course there were discussion of the political manipulation by using fear and that perhaps we should not trust groups that use fear to convince decision making as it unfairly concentrate on a narrow aspect of the choice selection.

Rafi also mentioned that fear is more prominent when we decide on issues we are not familiar with. We do not know or understand the whole situation and therefore we decide on the safest option.  Shula pointed out that doctors are fearful of medical scenarios that their patients do not know of.  Is that really fear or is it just language being use to say they know of negative outcomes that the patients do not know?

Christiana said that fear of heights is an innate response as babies have been measured to have a higher heart beat when placed on an elevated clear platform versus an opaque one.

Good fear is the response that concentrates our attention and get us out of a dangerous situation quickly.

Bad fear is irrational response of something that is not immediately harmful and also divert our attention from the overall picture at hand, concentrating only on one aspect.

Therefore, when we feel fear and we don't instinctively save ourselves, our rational side should ask if we really need to make a quick decision and if not, should we bring in other factors beyond what is right in front of us  into consideration.

Don't bring your rational side in when you are about to fall down the stairs, grab the handrail instead.

Don't be afraid of what can go wrong in choosing careers, one does not know what good as well as bad things can happen until actually in it.