Don't Be Hitler

What is your greatest fear? Spiders? Heights? Horses? Why are you afraid of those things? And what is really the probability of you dying from your fears, or being injured by your fear?

Many times, some of the things we are afraid of aren’t likely to happen to us at all. The probability of falling from a roller coaster and dying: 1 in 300 million. Chances are, you will be fine. But yet people still have that irrational fear of these things. But we aren’t so much afraid of the things that are MORE likely to hurt us.

For example, the probability of dying in a car crash is 1 in 500. You are a lot more likely to die from these dangerous things called automobiles than you are on that rollercoaster. Yet, we still drive cars every day and try to avoid the amusement park. The probability of getting melanoma is 1 in 40 people. Yet, most people are not concerned with the environment and global warming and the risks of the sunlight.

We use something called the rational choice theory to determine the risks of something. The rational choice perspective is that the individual is a purposeful, calculating actor, seeking to maximize his or her interests. This can potentially explain the irrational fears that we have. If I am terrified of roller coasters, my rational choice perspective would to be avoid those like the plague because I do not want to die.  

But some of our choices are made without thinking about the environment and the people in that environment. If a risk, no matter how irrational it is, is disturbing or threatening social order steps will be taken to eliminate that risk at all cost. For example, Hitler thought that the Jews were to blame for everything. Despite his irrational thinking, he did everything he could to try and eliminate the Jewish people due to his irrational fear.

What would happen if someone was terribly afraid of shark attacks and began killing every shark they saw? What would that do to our environment? What would that do to the natural balance of the sea? Many, such as Hitler, take our irrational fears to a whole other level, without really determining the probability of this risk and without taking in consideration what would happen to the rest of the world.

Though everyone tends to have these fears and risks that influence their everyday lives, maybe it is time to stop and think about whether our choices and perspectives are influencing the environment around us. Weigh the risks and probabilities. Keep the environment in mind and stay calm people.