16th May 2018

Articles and ideas

Malaysia Airlines’ net loss widened 59 percent in the first quarter.

In a recent article, I shared my own experiences of the impact of increased individual acts of terrorism and of being too close for comfort during many of the recent attacks in Europe. I presented a expansive view of how it has altered my thinking and even steered me when making otherwise mundane daily decisions, such as what is the safest airline to fly right after a recent attack or when a second event in the same location seems less probable.

To put this into perspective, it is more than thought provoking when one recognizes personal changes in behavior and to consider how society has been impacted by fear-based thinking. Allowing ourselves to be manipulated by these emotions has never been and will never be the answer as it only serves to further isolate us in our individual worlds.

In the midst of this chaos and growing tensions and changing ideology, there is a human response that builds and then unravels with each new incident of violence, and every false alarm. This primal reaction that occurs when we continuously experience new, traumatic events, directly or indirectly and this secondary impact of fear, real or imagined and the changes in behavior that follow continue to expand. The tensions and uncertainty have introduced a new political and social dynamic that now influences our individual and collective view and experience of life and the world around us.

This year, we have endured a surge in global upheaval, terrorism and changes to our international dialogue around the experience of fear. External changes in policy and in the media are affecting changes internally and impacting how individuals behave and make basic decisions on how we identify the enemy or distinguish between organized and isolated violence. We are conditioned now to respond with horror and then with an instinctual numbness that overcomes us and protects us from the reality of these dangers. The media feeds this overwhelming sense of helplessness as well, jumping on a event and feeding us every last detail in high definition.

 

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