Fear & Creativity: Responses to Modern World
Research by the British firm Henley Centre labels the modern world ‘the risk society,’ because there is so much uncertainty, change, and a loss of traditional institutions and support structures.
The modern world evokes two powerful and very different responses from people. Some react to change by becoming afraid to take risks, pessimistic, and constrained in their lives, and they therefore feel the need for more security.
But many individuals also feel they have the power and freedom to live as they want and to shape their own lives. They embrace risk and assert control in their lives. They feel free, and they are optimistic. They turn to creativity and the desire to create and experience new things.
Almost everyone experiences both at one time or another, and many of us switch between these feelings, depending on what’s happening at any given moment. But these two psychological models have a strong impact on choices that we make as consumers, voters, and members of society.