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All
We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself.
The title of this essay may provide an epithet that is
aesthetically pleasant but I suspect it to be inaccurate. Would we now
be alive to invent such philosophical rhetoric had our distant ancestors
not possessed a degree of fear sufficient to ensure their continued
survival? For instance, bereft of a significant fear of poisonous
reptiles, how many more early members of humankind would have bitten by
snakes or eaten by giant lizards such as the progenitors of the Komodo
Dragon of Indonesia? I mention reptiles with justifiable cause: I
possess a passion for this genus of the animal kingdom, especially
lizards. I am aware that I am among a tiny minority of homo-sapiens who
share this adoration for our cold blooded brethren.
It is believed,
with a probability factor that exhibits a formidably safe margin of
error, that all the great reptiles of the dinosaur family had become
extinct long before the earliest progenitors of humanity appeared on our
planet; there is sufficient evidence to support this, after all. The
most recent dinosaur fossil is dated at 60 million years ago; the family
of man (although not the genus Homo) is some 20 million years old.
However, a
colleague of mine once intrigued me with a proposition: if there were
maybe a few very late dinosaur members that, by some strange accident of
geography perhaps, had managed to evade the mass extinction of this
species at the final stage of the Cretaceous period, could not a fear of
these beasts have been instilled into the DNA code of our earliest
ancestors? Further, could we not suggest that our fears are perhaps
intimately linked to our dreams? I said this was absurd. However, let us
first consider the nature and possible function of dreams.
One theory
holds that dreams are the means by which our brains gradually wake us up
to check whether or not any predator is about to eat us. My chief
objection to this idea is that dreams occupy a relatively small portion
of our sleep time while a further complication arises from the fact that
it tends to be the mammalian predators rather than the mammalian prey
who experience dream-filled sleep, at least at the present time.
Another theory
posits dreams to be a buffer zone by which recent incidents are filed
from the unconscious processing of events of the day while few people
dream about what happened the previous week. While this model is more
compelling, it falls short of a complete explanation since it cannot
account for the disguises so characteristic of symbolic language in
dreams; it also fails to supply a reason for the strong emotional impact
of many dreams, as is revealed, for instance, in that many people have
been more frightened by events that have occurred in dreams than by
those that have happened in reality. A cogent fact must also be added to
any model to explain the purpose (if such a purpose exists) of dreams:
individuals who are born blind only ever experience auditory, not
visual, dreams.
The human brain
has evolved - in a manner which is quite bizarre - into what is clearly
a triune system of stages that reflect ancestral improvements over long
vistas of time. However, rather than replace one brain-type with a
superior model, the old model is retained and a further addition is
developed over and around the original. This process has been repeated a
second time to give us the three basic components of the human brain:
the R-Complex, the Limbic System and the Neocortex. In this way, the
deep and ancient segments of our brains continue to function; these
segments were necessary and useful 40,000 years ago but, in most
respects, are probably quite superfluous today. This salient observation
provides us with a biological clue to account for significant aspects of
the behaviour considered antisocial and detrimental to human development
in the present day, with the inclusion of what are called ‘irrational
fears’.
The R-Complex.
While the control of various functions occurs in many different parts of
the brain, (memory is located in at least three areas, for instance),
the initial duties performed by each brain component remains. The first
of these components to be accreted onto the mid-brain and cerebral
cortex was the R-Complex. This evolved several hundred million years ago
in reptiles and rather later in the earliest mammals. Its role is
signified by aggressive behaviour, guardianship of territorial rights,
obedience to ritual and the establishment of social hierarchies.
Military,
political and bureaucratic behaviour is largely governed, and definitely
instigated, by the R-Complex, despite the use of speech in such matters
as political conferences, this being a property of the neocortical
component. This part of our brains evidently served a useful function
during the days when predators roamed the steppes and tribes battled for
the best hunting grounds across the tundra. The R-Complex is of
extremely limited use today, of course.
The Limbic System.
This evolved about 150 million years ago. Whereas the R-Complex suggests
the stoic acquiescence to the tenets dictated by instincts and genes,
the Limbic System is the component most obviously associated with strong
and vivid emotional responses. It is from this component we derive the
mammalian trait to nurture and care for our siblings, plus the
propensity for compassion and for altruism. It is also the brain part
that is most readily affected by and responsive to hallucinogenic drugs.
In fact it is within this component that most of the brains’
own psychotropic chemicals are located. The pituitary gland (which
influences other glands and dominates the endocrine system) is a crucial
aspect of the Limbic System. The endocrine system governs the alteration
of moods and it is this that provides a clue to the properties of the
Limbic aspect of the brain: within it is located a small, almond shaped
inclusion called the amygdala.
This is chiefly concerned with aggression and fear in that it is largely
involved with the regulation of those attributes. Malfunctions in the
Limbic System produce emotional responses inappropriate to or utterly in
disaccordance with received stimuli - such people generally exhibit
familiar symptoms of the most common forms of mental illness.
The ‘smell of fear’ can be attributed to the fact that the
most ancient part of the Limbic System is the olfactory cortex, relayed
to our sense of smell; our memories and recollection of smell is
governed by the hippocampus,
a structure that is also located in the Limbic System. While the human
sense of smell is paltry compared to most other mammals (and minuscule
compared to insects) this may not always have been the case. Perhaps the
olfactory cortex provides another clue to the lifestyles of our distant
ancestors. It may not necessarily be fear that we smell in our
adversaries but a different adrenalin based hormone secreted by
ourselves as we advance for the kill. At such a time, the R-Complex
takes over. As a further reminder of our reptilian past, the adage ‘to
kill in cold blood’ is of interest when we consider the recent
increase in the evidence in favour of the theory that most dinosaurs
were warm blooded!
The Neocortex.
This region accounts for almost 85% of the content of the brain and is
the most recent development. It evolved approximately 50 million years
ago although when human beings emerged, its evolution exhibited a
significant acceleration 2 million years ago. It is divided into four
major lobes: frontal, parietal,
temporal and occipital.
Although there are many connections between the Neocortex and the
subcortical brain, these subdivisions may not necessarily act as
independent functional units.
However, there
have been revealed definite propensities toward certain attributes and
properties specific to each of these four lobes and can they can be
categorised in this manner: the frontal lobe is concerned with
deliberation and the regulation of action; the parietal lobe
deals with spatial perception and the exchange of information between
brain and body; the temporal lobe attends to many complex
perceptual tasks while the occipital lobe is chiefly dominated by
vision, that most acute of senses in all primates.
The frontal
lobe has also given us qualities that are peculiar to humanity: the
connection between vision and erect bipedal stature and the property of
cognitive anticipation. With the latter, of course, are related the
locales of anxiety and concern. ‘The
price we pay for anticipation of the future is anxiety about the
past.’ (Carl Sagan). Regulation of the future in this manner has
been responsible for our systems of ethics, science and legal codes. A
society with the benefits of such foresight renders to it the
acquisition of increased leisure time for the evolution of social and
technological innovation. With regard to the former aspect of the
frontal lobe, since the adoption of an erect bipedal posture liberated
our hands for manipulation and tool construction, which in turn led to
the accretion of cultural and physiological traits, we can say in a
sense that civilisation is the result of our frontal lobes.
The combination
of ritual, emotion and reason, in the R-Complex, Limbic System and
Neocortex respectively, display themselves in human society in an almost
fearful array, fearful because so often we celebrate those intellectuals
who evidently perceive ‘what ought to be done’ to address a problem
yet just as often those same capable persons are usually those who
occupy the least powerful position to be able to effect any solution to
it.
I suggest our governments are largely run by reptiles. The most
nearly unique human characteristic is the ability to ponder abstract
associations and to reason. We may share these noble attributes with
whales and dolphins but even if this is so, it is difficult to ascertain
precisely how we may gauge, measure and calibrate the degree of these
animals’ mental acuity in this respect since we deal here with
cerebral functions that display virtually no exterior manifestations.
The work of Dr John Lilly with the language and behaviour of dolphins is
the first pioneer work to be done in this difficult but fascinating
field.
We know from research into, and subsequently an intense study of,
people who suffer brain damage that often when one part of the brain is
ruptured or impaired that the tasks for which it was chiefly responsible
are frequently transferred to other areas of the brain, often with
astonishing success. Since we can possess ethics, science, verbal and
written language, abstract association and the ability to reason, we
must peer with incredulity at the sheer, preposterous barbarism and
crudity with which the majority of human animals fail to effectively use
or even abuse their brains, organs that have evolved over a period of
literally millions of years.
Fear governs
nearly all antisocial behaviour; only the sexual drives can compare and
even these are frequently derived from fears concerned with sexuality
itself. Rather than give a biochemical analysis of the fear induced
behaviour patterns (interesting though that would be), it is useful to
cite examples of behaviour that is evidently antisocial and degenerate
to reveal how these are related to fear and little else.
Tribalism.
The neo-nazi British National Party thrives on its appeal to all that is
reptilian and ritualistic in society: a belief in the superiority of
certain racial groups, the defence of arbitrary geographical boundaries
justified on the grounds of nationalism, absolute obedience to authority
and so forth.
In fact most disciplinarian institutions rely on the ability of
their charges to cease to utilise their neocortices and instead obey the
ancient, tribal codes of the R-Complex. If you wish to see the R-Complex
in action, observe race riots and speeches based upon racial supremacy.
Even the term ‘racial supremacy’ has a fear element implicit within
it, for a race that is healthy, well adjusted and confident does not
seek to ‘prove’ it is superior, does not need to believe in
superiority and is not required to dominate other races. (The word
‘superiority’ is itself bereft of validity since it is a purely
subjective term which will vary in accordance to the definition of what
characteristics define ‘superiority’ in each different nation or
culture.)
The domination
of other races is the last desperate act of a people or a government
riddled with doubt and fear - it is an act inappropriate to a species
which possess brains that comprise a neocortex that accounts for 85% of
the brain mass. The irrational fear held by, say, a white person against
Chinese or Japanese people is merely a modern representation of the age
old fear of the outsider, the one from another tribe, a fear induced by
the genetic code that prevailed when two tribes fought over a hunting
ground or a clear water stream before they had evolved higher up the
evolutionary scale to learn to co-operate together and share.
Co-operation
and the desire and ability to share are attributes of higher, advanced
and more developed creatures. A man who believes in racial supremacy is
a man who should have died out 40,000 years ago.
Religion.
A religion (be that Christianity, Satanism, Islam, Hinduism, a political
doctrine or a mode of social codification) is no more than a specific
set of highly moral rules and laws that restrict and stifle the activity
and thought of a people subject to its jurisdiction. The tyranny and
ritual slaughter ordained by the established religions is adequately
documented. What is not so obvious and is therefore more dangerous to
free-thinking individuals is the insidious indoctrination of people who
claim to be bereft of adherence to any traditional religion or political
doctrine.
This self-hypnosis occurs through peer group pressure and social
conditioning often apart from the wide-scale desires of governments. A
perfect example of this can be witnessed in the numerous responses to
deliberately volatile and provocative texts which I submitted to various
independent publications during the early 1990s. In these I presented
propositions, suggested ideas and concepts that I suspected would be
alien to or even offensive to much of the readership of those
publications, magazines devoted largely to youth subculture audiences of
a notoriously left-wing disposition.
The responses were usually far from intelligent - these people
did not generally bother to utilise their neocortices to reason, to
consider the implications of my essays, rather, they acted on impulse
and offered responses as conditioned as any famed Pavlovian dog. Such
people are frightened of the possibilities offered by ideas contrary to
their own for they have already become accustomed to ideas and concepts
that mollify and support ideals and belief systems with which they are
familiar.
Such ideals and
belief systems are usually not their own but those already constructed
by a political party or group to which they subscribe, invariably not
because they actually support the ideas and belief systems but because
the organisation or group who propagate them promote an image with which
such weak willed people wish to identify. They cannot (and will not)
accept an idea or concept that threatens this image since this would
threaten the image that is in reality a safety barrier against the
fearful insecurity that arises when one takes responsibility for ones’
own thoughts and actions.
Another fine example of such conditioned responses can be
witnessed when socialist newspaper sellers are confronted with
intelligent people who deliberately argue from what appears to be a
traditionally right wing belief system. I’ve tried this myself with a
colleague and predicted what form the response will take; not once have
I been wrong! Some of the most intensely religious people in the world
are communists. Religion is merely the ancient tribalism of the mind and
there can be no place for it in a healthy, modern society.
At this point I
should mention that irrational fears of spiders, mice or other harmless
animals evidently hark back in our genetic codification to a time when
spiders contained lethal venom, when rodents were larger and more
vicious than is now the case, when in fact a fear of spiders and rodents
was both healthy and eminently understandable so that we should not then
ridicule one who jumps out of his or her skin at the sight of the most
paltry arachnid.
Besides, in southern Australia, for example, there is a spider
whose bite can cause paralysis and agonising death in an adult human
being in just 15 minutes. Just enough of the nervous system remains
unparalysed to ensure that the victims’ final 15 minutes of life are
lived in an utter hell of pain. Saint Patrick may have banished all the
snakes from Ireland but he could not eradicate peoples’ fear of them.
Now let us
apply what we have learned about the triune brain system to, for
instance, political systems in operation. It will readily be appreciated
after brief genuflection that only those people who have advanced
farthest along the evolutionary chain of development require no
government - in fact, therefore, genuine liberty is reserved for those
human beings who have learnt to relinquish those harmful and obsolete
properties of the R-Complex, master their emotive responses in the
Limbic and realise the potential inherent within the neocortex.
Such a society
is the very pinnacle of human society, the ultimate light at the end of
the most torturous of Platonic tunnels. By contrast, the communist (or
fascist) state is the obvious manifestation of the externalised
R-Complex in all its outmoded, banal, fearful extremism; it is the
politics of regression, of insecurity and of fear, that ultimate fear
that allows people to relinquish their humanity in favour of a
lamentable subservience to all that is unthinking and unthinkable. If
fox-hunting is the unspeakable chasing the uneatable then communism (or
fascism) is the unreasoning ruling the unthinking.
Capitalism is
merely the fear of poverty; liberalism can then be regarded as a
transitory stage for those people who claim to desire freedom but fear
the total responsibility one is required to take for ones’ own life
that is concurrent with total liberty.
Your
neocortex and your frontal lobes await your pleasure: use them!
Andy
Martin ã
2003.
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