Take Heed, and Beware of Irrational Fear

The tremendous difficulty we have controlling our irrational feelings reminds us of our inherently bestial nature. Although it’s said that reason, or vernunft if you like, sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, ironically this exquisite human faculty seldom comes to rescue us when we need it most.

As I said in the previous posting, Tokyo didn’t suffer serious damage from the earthquake and tsunami. True, the nuclear plant crisis triggered by them has made it all but impossible for Tokyo Electric Power Company to supply enough electricity, as a result of which it has now put into practice the rolling residential blackouts in its covered areas, thus influencing Tokyoites’ lives too. But even before this they were fear stricken. Immediately after the earthquake hit, many of them rushed to supermarkets and convenient stores to stock up on essentials. This stupid panic buying still continues despite the admonitions on the part of the government officials and TV news commentators. If you think rationally about the current situation, it is the most affected areas in northeast Japan that are in serious shortage of essentials. Tokyoites don’t lack anything at this moment. Still, they do stock up, thus making it all the more difficult for relief goods to reach those survivors in Tohoku. Nothing could be further from rational behavior.

Behind this irrational behavior lies an egocentric desire to avert death even at the expense of others’ lives. Another possible factor is the strong tendency of Japanese people to simply ape what other people do without considering whether it is a reasonable thing. Both of them can be subsumed under the heading of “fear.” On the one hand, they fear death; on the other, they fear to lag behind others. These feelings are understandable enough, but not commendable from a rationalistic point of view. And in my opinion, overcoming them ultimately helps us to protect what we fear to lose.

Not only in this panic buying but also in people’s interpretation of what’s happening in the nuclear plants in Fukushima prefecture does this irrational fear make itself felt. The reportings of the foreign media and the Japanese media are so different in tone that they are at a loss which of the two is true. The foreign media suggest that the nuclear crisis is far worse than the Japanese administration admits, something that people don't want to belive, but if the worse scenario should turn out to be true, those who have listened for it, they think, will be more likely to survive than those who have ignored it. As a result, they are frustrated. But even if the foreign media should be correct, there is nothing we could do at this moment. What point is there in scratching our heads over what we cannot do anything about? The only rational way to respond to the current situation is to be always prepared for the worst scenario, be it a Chernobyl or anything else, so that we can remain calm should it come. This might be regarded as a form of resignation. But far from being so, this is the most practical way to weather the crisis. The worst scenario doesn’t always mean that we all perish. But it would take stupendous efforts to overcome it. So, suppose that the worst thing happened, what would be the biggest impediment to containing it? People’s irrational fear and behavior. Even now, they are in confusion. If it should turn out that the crisis is far worse than they think, it is almost inevitable for the situation to be chaotic. In such a case, those who will keep calm and behave in a rational manner will be most likely to succeed.

I know that this mental attitude is hard to maintain. After all, we are part of the animal kingdom. Rational behavior is not the rule but the exception. But if reason cannot help us at this critical moment, what is it for?