Earlier this week Steven D. Levitt, one of the co-authors of Freakonomics, posted a blog article titled: “If You Were A Terrorist, How Would You Attack?“. As you might imagine, this topic generated a tremendous amount of passionate responses. Later in the week, Levitt addressed some of these responses in a follow-up article titled: “Terrorism, Part II“. I was one of the people who commented on his follow-up (I’m #18) and I’d like to take a moment here to expand on my comments.
I feel that there is a link between Osama Bin Laden, bird flu and gang violence. I have done a number of radio interviews where I’ve discussed this point. In fact, the subject even came up during my hour on Oprah & Friends Radio. I maintain that all of these things have two things in common: FEAR and CONTROL. Inherently we fear anything we cannot control.
That’s why terrorism “works”. I don’t believe that terrorists use roadside bombs simply to kill people (there are far more efficient ways to do that). Terrorists use roadside bombs to instill uncertainty and fear. We fear the actions of terrorists precisely because: a) we can’t predict what they will do next; and b) we can’t control their actions - there is just no way to have a contingency for every possibility.
It’s the same with the threats of bird flu and gang violence - we can’t control them and we fear that we will be affected by them.
But at the root of it all, is our fear of death.
We can’t control the fact that we are going to die. There is nothing we can do to change the fact that one day our bodies will stop working. And for people in the Western world - that lack of control terrifies us. So we externalize the fear. We obsess about the things we feel we can control. For some it is their health. For others it is their safety. And increasingly for the USA, it is the idea of “national security”.
But how big is the threat of terrorism? In his second blog post, Levitt says: “The actual cost of … terrorism in terms of human lives is relatively small, compared to other causes of death like motor-vehicle crashes, heart attacks, homicide, and suicide. It is the fear that imposes the real cost.“
And that’s where the Power of Mortality™ comes in.
Once you’ve embraced your mortality and accepted the fact that you have a limited and uncertain amount of time on this earth - the fear melts away. After all - what are you going to fear if you no longer fear death? Oh - and as an added bonus, embracing your mortality allows you to live a life filled with vitality! I tell people that I can help them live lives that are “FEARLESS, FOCUSED and FREE FROM REGRETS”
Interested? Start with the Mortality Manifesto.
