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The Psychology of Fear

The Pull Toward Barbarism

Sometimes I wonder if there is a flaw in human psychology -- an instinct that resists being civilized.

We know cooperation makes us safer. We know kindness makes us happier.

Yet time and again, people choose cruelty, tribalism, and division.

It is as if fear rewires us.

Instead of building the world we want, we retreat into the world that hurts us.

Call it an evolutionary leftover. Call it an emergent property. Some might call it evil.

Whatever the name, it is real -- and it explains why progress is never guaranteed.

Next in the series:
History Repeats

Series index:
The Pull Toward Barbarism -- Table of Contents

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