Over the years, I have become a bit suspicious of what everyone refers to as common sense. Common sense is acquired from the use of the five senses: smell taste, touch, sight and sound and passed from generations to generations, many of which may be just myths. Some are offshoots of superstitions. This is not to discount cultures and values. But I agree with Malcolm Gladwell, when he says in his book, Outliers, that ‘’the culture we belong to and the legacy passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine.’’
Only a few dictionaries would define common sense without using the phrase ‘'sound judgement'’. But the degree of soundness of any judgement is predicated upon the depth and quality of the culture and values behind it. As common as common sense is believed to be, look at what we do every day to ourselves, to others and to our environments. Our daily life's transactions with fellow humans, environments and circumstances of life are all largely based on (or are supposed to be based on) common sense and it is the base on which core values and cultures are formed , even as core values and cultures, also in turn, form the base for common sense, and herein lies my suspicions.
Common sense becomes limiting with a phenomenon I wish I could call '‘the knowledge of evil'’ or ’'the evil of knowledge,'’ whichever way you decide to look at it from. I often wonder if this is not the same thing the Scriptures refer to in Genesis chapter 3. But be it as it may, fear and its power come from what we know and also, from what we don’t know and this is what I call the knowledge of evil or the evil of knowledge.
The Paralysing Power of Fear. Back to my story. Why did I sink? I sank because of the force with which I hit the water with my entire body weight. But why did I almost drown? It was because I didn’t know that my body could float on water. So the moment I found out that my legs weren’t touching the ground as it was used to and because I didn’t have a clue as to how to stay above the water, fright and panic took over my judgements. Did I know better? My ordeal that day were the results of both what I know, namely, that I was in trouble (and who told me that I was in trouble, anyway?) and also what I didn’t know, which is that I can float on water if only I was fearless.
So, while learning how to ride bicycle and also while learning how to swim later on, my confidence and fearless dispositions came gradually from the knowledge as to how to do it. But how I have often wondered: how or why is it that animals don’t have to learn how to swim? But human being must learn how to swim? As children, we played with puppies and each time we throw them inside the stream, they swam effortlessly. Even mice swim without hitches. So does dead bodies of human beings. Could this be what the knowledge of evil (or the evil of knowledge) is, and does to mankind?
Over the years, I have read quiet a number of books that address fear. In the same token, I have also listened both live and on tapes/CDs, to great teachers and speakers who had offered great insights that have helped me cut that monster called fear to size. While I cannot claim, as at the time of writing this, that I have fully conquered all known fears, my present victory over my secret fears plus insights gathered over the years gives me some level of qualification to teach others a thing or two on how to conquer this monster. No one is exempt from fears. But with appropriate knowledge, we can get a good handle of it. Please, note that fear an impulse just like anger. Excessive anger can damage things just as excessive fear. (We will discuss anger Under Emotional Intelligence for Leaders in a different post).
Many definitions of fear have being given. One is the acronym: F-false E-evidence A-against R-reality. Another very similar one is (still with the use of acronym): F-false E-evidence A-appearing R-real. This use of acronym is a brilliant way of making it stick to the memory and though I have known this definition since my early twenties, I do not want to take them for granted, for they are true. Fear is fed by wrong cultural beliefs, others’ mistakes and misfortunes, rumours, bad news, personal failures, pains, etc. These are knowledge that we have acquired over the years on life’s journey. But is fear bad on its own? Doesn’t fear also help us a good number of times to avoid dangers?
The Power of Knowledge. On my primary school badge was the inscription as our motto: ’’Knowledge is power’’. But what did I know about ‘’power.’’ Well, as a grown man, I now know of no other weapon with which to crush fear as I have known of knowledge. As a boy, I used to fear dogs with certain colours of brown-black stripes, thinking they are mad dogs. The first time I was told of a mad dog, it was a dog with same colour. In fact, that particular colour is not even homely for a dog, in my judgement. Till date I still dislike dogs of such colours. But the fear that they are mad is gone with the knowledge that it is not madness that gave them such colour.
Courage is Not a Denial of Fear. But it denies fear of its power to rub you. Also, courage is not an absent of fear. It is having a more superior reason to confront what you fear. If a man wants to save his child from a fire outbreak, the value of his child surely will supersede the fear of fire and give him such courage that will dwarf the feeling of fear. Ironically, greater fear also does supply courage to over current one. A major propelling force in a leader is the force of courage. Courage in the face of fear. The man who leads is the man who‘s bold and audacious enough to step out of the crowd, and this takes courage. Courage, even when fear seems to be breathing down his throat.
But What Really Is Fear? Fear, in reality and in general, is an alarm. Just like the feelings of hunger, anger, bodily pains, emotional shame, etc. These things are there to help us be alert, alive and about things that are our ‘’response –abilities.’’ Without the feeling of shame who will dress up, dress well or behave well? Without the feeling of pains, who will know when fire is burning up his body part he didn’t see? Without the feeling of anger, how would one show strong disapproval? Without feeling hungry, who will eat? And without feeling of fear, how can one be alert and prepared against threats or danger? Needless to bore you with the scientific explanations about which experts had said that the adrenaline which the feeling of fear helps send through our systems is very useful to give the entire body the ‘wake-up call to action’. Since I’m not an expert in that field, I will go no further there.
This alarm that goes off signalling an approaching threat or ’'danger'’ is normal. This is the process that sends the needed messages to our bodies and mental faculties. We know danger only because the feeling of fear is in us. Again, take pains for example. Without the feeling of pains, we would bleed or be sick to death without knowing something is wrong with our bodies, wouldn’t we? Pains and feelings are signals, so is fear. Beyond that, it becomes obsession or phobia which is an irrational fear. If what causes the signal – which is usually picked by either one or more of the five senses - is worth a fight or a flight then one must do accordingly. But, how do you distinguish between the two if adequate knowledge is lacking?
The more wrong information or adequate knowledge one has, the more paralysing the feeling of fear becomes. Whether or not a person will function on the bases of the alarm on the full stretch; whether the so-called danger remains a danger or not, is dependent on the person’s knowledge about that thing. When we pick up a sound of approaching footsteps in the darkness and/or in a lonely place, our brains can only interpret it based on our frames of reference. What do you interpret that sound to mean in connections with the environment and the situation of the moment? And what do you know about that sound before now? The more the ignorance or the wrong idea you already have, the stronger and tighter the grip of fear. Fear is fed and grows into a monster by wrong mindset and the wrong information as well as lack of good or full information.
Again, to understand fear one must understand that fear, at its primary level, is only a fright. Fright is an impulse. While a baby may not have fear in the real sense of the word, for they have no knowledge, they have frights and so do animals. They shudder at the instance of sudden loud sound such as dropping objects or an adult yelling suddenly around them. This is natural alarm. But with adequate knowledge babies overcome it as they grow. As for the animals, though they have frights, wrong information have no access to them or rather, they have no access to wrong information and so, they swim without going through swimming classes.
The Cure? All we have discussed already is a good cure of fear, excessive fear I mean. For fear itself, as we have learned, is one of the many types of equipment in us. Fear can’t be removed entirely, for it helps us detect an approaching threat or danger. It‘s excessive fear that paralyses us that must be removed and that by adequate knowledge and reasons to be more courageous. The Feeling of fear, like feelings of anger, pains, shame, weakness, fever, etc., is an announcement of approaching something. But, how come even what we hear, truth or falsehood, also sends fear down our spines? It is still a signal, nonetheless. Whether that falsehood influences our actions afterwards or not is a function of adequate knowledge. One of a leader’s top characteristics is bravery. Bravery is not blind courage, but a confidence that comes right from the reservoir of knowledge within and superior reasons.
MAXIMUM RESPECT!
