Xenophobia – Fear of the Known within the Unknown
Labels like „biggot“, „nazi“ or „racist“ are thrown around like coupons before black friday. They essentially lost their meaning because they were used in so many circumstances with hardly a connection to the original meaning.
I remember the nephew of an acquaintance. He was hardly 8-years old. Thanks to youtube and the influence of the internet he was already quite fluent in english. We spoke about his hobbies. I uttered my disagreement on several topics and he wouldn‘t take it. He called me „racist“! It‘s quite funny because we‘re pretty much of the same ethnicity. Western european with a touch of portuguese. Still he called me „racist“! Just because I disagreed with him on topics completely unrelated to race. Fascinating and shocking at the same time, it shows the degree of brainwashing that even the youngest among us are subject to.
Of course, the boy‘s still young and doesn‘t get the meaning and application of a lot of words yet. The sad thing is that supposed grown-ups act the exact same way. Where else would he get the „political name-calling“ from? In order to not having to deal with criticism, labels like „racist“ are tossed around excessively to discredit the alleged opponent.
The anecdote with the boy shows furthermore: Inflationary usage of words leads to the devaluation of the used words. Just like with money: When you print your currency excessively the individual token loses its value. Like we‘ve been observing with the devaluation of the dollar throughout the last hundred years.
In this world of perversions many words lost their original meaning. It helps to get to the root of a word to understand it and to be able to apply it in your day-to-day life. Xenophobia is an interesting word. Often tied to the above mentioned „biggot“ or „racist“. Literally translated it‘s the fear of the foreign or of the unknown. You essentially reject something or someone, like immigrants from a foreign culture, because it‘s unknown to you. However I found out that xenophobia is more than that. Let‘s elaborate.
If it were something unknown, you wouldn‘t be afraid of it. A child who sees a sandy beach for the first time is nothing but excited and amazed to jump into the unknown. When something is completely unknown and you have no associations whatsoever, it doesn‘t scare you. It‘s just new.
The fear arises when you tie the unknown with something known. In other words it‘s the fear of the known within the unknown. You were hurt the last time you jumped into the unknown. So you associate the unknown with something uncomfortable, painful or even traumatic. Like a failed relationship for example. You fear to commit in a relationship because you are reminded of the pain of the last relationship. It‘s neither foreign nor unknown. It‘s something too familiar and you try to avoid the experience at all costs.
In the classic example of the cultural xenophob it‘s the image he has about a worst case scenario he is familiar with. Before, somebody took something dear away from him. So he wants to avoid it.
The mechanism of fear as the fear of the traumatic known within the unknown can be used to your advantage. Reframe it as excitement!
Although it might sound like an oversimplification, it actually works. Remember an experience in the past when you jumped out into the unknown and the experience was fantastatic!
The body doesn‘t know the difference between fear or excitement. The physical symptoms like sweaty hands or increased pulsation are equally applied to both states. It‘s the brain that decodes it differently! Use your brain to increase your quality of life!
So, my fellow xenophobs, let‘s end as usual with some questions:
What do you fear?
And:
How can you reframe it as excitement?