The Two Systems That Protect Us
I am working on a new book on fear of flying, one that is based on the recent research on how the mind works. I’m going to paste below the text I’ve put together to introduce the new information. And, I welcome any thoughts or comments you may have on it.
The Two Systems That Protect Us
We have two systems that protect us: one system operates consciously. The other operates unconsciously.
Conscious Protection
Our conscious protective system is active when we are awake, aware of our surroundings, and the high-level thinking we call “executive function” is active. Executive function recognizes threats based on past experience. It may be able to foresee threats based on imagination that is guided by logic. When executive function addresses threats, it considers countermeasures, and predicts their effectiveness. If our executive function is satisfied with the protective measures, it produces imaginary scenes that depict security rather than danger.
We feel safe. Where does that feeling come from? We might think it comes from the conscious system. But the conscious system is like the director of a movie. Another system, our unconscious protective system, is like an audience viewing the movie. As the unconscious protective system views what the conscious protective system is producing, it responds emotionally.
When our conscious system produces scenes of insecurity, our unconscious protective system, which is viewing the scenes, releases stress hormones that cause the low-level arousal we call anxiety.
When we are not personally in control, we may question whether those who are in control will act in our best interest. This, when viewed by our unconscious protective system, produces anxiety.
If control or escape seems impossible, our conscious system pictures the worst-case scenario. The unconscious system releases stress hormones. If enough stress hormones are released, reality testing in the conscious system shuts down. When reality testing disappears, there is no distinction between imagination and perception.
Though fate has not physically closed the door on us, when reality testing disappears, the mind closes the door on us. Our imagination is experienced as though it were reality. When mental closure takes place, physical closure seems to have taken place. What was feared might happen is experienced as happening.
For example, a passenger fears their plane might fall. Since they believe it could happen and cannot personally keep it from happening, falling out of the sky seems inevitable. When they feel the plane move downward in turbulence, even if the movement is slight, mental closure causes them to synthetically experience the plane falling out of the sky.
No other explanation of the plane’s movement is considered. Though the plane is flying fine, the person is having a synthetic experience that the plane is falling out of the sky. That, of course, causes terror.
Unconscious Protection
By contrast, our unconscious protective system operates out of view. Unlike our conscious system, our unconscious system doesn’t use memory or logic. It is an artificial intelligence system. It judges what is safe and what is not safe by reading code attached to things.
When we encounter something for the first time, we unconsciously attach code to the experience. If the experience is pleasurable, we unconsciously assign it a positive code. The next time we encounter it, our amygdala reads the code. The positive code produces a positive feeling. The opposite occurs if the prior experience was negative.
In some cases, unconscious systems cause, not just negative feelings, but alarm. When a prior experience has been traumatic, we unconsciously assign a highly negative code to the cause of the trauma. We also unconsciously assign highly negative codes to not being in control and to not being able to escape.
Subsequently, if the situation presents itself again, our amygdala reads its highly negative code and signals the hypothalamus to activate our sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The SNS is like the gas pedal in a car. When activated, it causes the adrenal glands to pump epinephrine (adrenaline) into our bloodstream to increase arousal and ready us for action. The epinephrine increases our heart rate and breathing rate. This reaction is known as the “fight or flight” response.
A key question now is, is the conscious protective system impaired due to the release of stress hormones. If executive function remains active, it will constrain the urge to act while it decides what, if anything, to do.
If the stress hormones have shut down reality testing, the mind closes the door on us. Our imagination is experienced as though it were reality. And whatever we feared would happen, now is experienced as happening.
Now that we know that it is code that causes our unconscious protective system to release stress hormones, the key to fixing the problem of feeling unsafe when we are flying is to change the codes attached to flying.
Neuroscientists refer to these codes as “emotional valence codes.” “Emotional” signifies that the code can trigger an emotional response, while “valence” refers to its positive or negative nature and the intensity of that positivity or negativity.
At the Mystic Connecticut Aquarium’s dolphin show, the trainer tells the audience that the toughest trick to train a dolphin to do is to jump through a hula hoop. Dolphins are air-breathing mammals. They can’t swim backward. If they enter an enclosure too small for a U-turn, they may get trapped and drown. Though we humans know a Hula Hoop presents no danger, code is built into the dolphin’s DNA that causes it to avoid being surrounded.
We, unlike dolphins, know Hula Hoops are not a threat. Nor is an airliner.