The Principles of the Feararchy
In an attempt to provide a more orderly overview of the ‘imaginary fears’ a.k.a. the ‘fears we fear’, Dr. Karl Albrecht proposed the “Feararchy” (2007). In the “Feararchy” 5 types of fears are categorized as illustrated in the model below:
Shortly explained these fears encompass:
- Extinction—the fear of annihilation, of ceasing to exist. This is a more fundamental way to express it than just calling it “fear of death.” The idea of no longer beingarouses a primary existential anxiety in all normal humans. Consider that panicky feeling you get when you look over the edge of a high building.
- Mutilation—the fear of losing any part of our precious bodily structure; the thought of having our body’s boundaries invaded, or of losing the integrity of any organ, body part, or natural function. Anxiety about animals, such as bugs, spiders, snakes, and other creepy things arises from fear of mutilation.
- Loss of Autonomy—the fear of being immobilized, paralyzed, restricted, enveloped, overwhelmed, entrapped, imprisoned, smothered, or otherwise controlled by circumstances beyond our control. In physical form, it’s commonly known as claustrophobia, but it also extends to our social interactions and relationships.
- Separation—the fear of abandonment, rejection, and loss of connectedness; of becoming a non-person—not wanted, respected, or valued by anyone else. The “silent treatment,” when imposed by a group, can have a devastating psychological effect on its target.
- Ego-death—the fear of humiliation, shame, or any other mechanism of profound self-disapproval that threatens the loss of integrity of the Self; the fear of the shattering or disintegration of one’s constructed sense of lovability, capability, and worthiness.
Introducing the model Albrechts cites US President Franklin Roosevelt famous quote “The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself” denoting that the fear-of-fear ‘probably causes more problems in our lives than fear itself’.
Ok, nice to have the ‘imaginary fears’ orderly organized in 5 categories but how does it show us that it causes more problems in our lives than fear itself? Well, first of all, unconsciously the drivers that make the millions small and some bigger decisions in our life are in most cases backed by fear and not the possible positive outcomes of choosing the uncertain and unknown option as we read on page XX.
Some dangers we ought to be afraid of are the unknown impact of new research and technology bringing such the internet allowing organized crime to go to the next level on the Dark Web, blockchain also considered as bank for the Dark Web, virtual worlds as hang out for pedophiles, artificial intelligence outsmarting people, robots outperforming human skills, terrorism going cyber, nanotechnology paving the way for ‘Frankenstein 4.0’.
Those prevailing and conceived dangers or ‘Collectively Perceived and Accepted Dangers’ (CPAD) are arguably justifiable in order to keep us alert. I would however argue that the balance should be right, making a person afraid of all ‘possible’ luring dangers might totally paralyze somebody. It is like the increasing protectionism of our beloved children, if a 10 year old kid would have the same childhood I had, meaning building tree huts 10 meters of the ground, swimming in pools out of parents sight, playing among frogs, salamanders and whatever mud insects you have, cycling without helmet, making small firecamps in the forrest without adults around, the parents would probably be sued for irresponsible and neglectance in parenting. In 1993 this was however totally accepted in most European societies. In contrast, does this mean that 20 years from now our children will go out of house with 24/7 camera monitoring, arm and leg protectors, helmet, smoke sensors, infection detector and a bullet proof vest? [include episode Black Mirror (overparenting].
Is this really where we want to be in continuously reducing the probability from 0,1% to 0,01% that something might happen? Where’s the balance in living without continuous fear of the possible million things that could happen and being fully protected from possible dangers? And does the consequence for well-intended protectionism bring us more joy, quality-of-life and happiness? Note that there’s already a substantial increase in allergies and intolerances among (young) adults which have not gone through the fun of playing in the mud during childhood [include study proving farm kids have less allergies then urban kids]. And don’t forget the negative impact on people continuously producing cortisol (stress hormone) to anticipate dangers which are unlikely to happen or an illusion of the mind.
Ok, but the CPAD’s don’t worry me the most, what worries me more are the invisible and subtle fears brought to us throughout life by….well pretty much everybody! These ‘Collectively Engrained and Taken-for-granted Dangers’ (CETD’s) are leading to long lasting if not lifelong imprisonments in our ‘mindcages’. I talk about the fear of not having certainty (lateron) in life or in other words being not- or less successful then your parents’ or society’s (expectations of your life)!