The rumour of khekpa* (head hunters and kidnappers), a myth I used to hear as a child, has again surfaced and caused panic in Eastern Bhutan. This is simply ridiculous, upsetting and unacceptable. In fact, whoever spread this rumour is criminal. The Royal Bhutan Police and the Department of Law and Order should investigate this thoroughly and put them to task – whatever might have been their reasons – and reassure the public once and for all. As western-educated adults we may laugh it off as a trivial but among the illiterate rural folks and children in boarding schools, the fear is real. Authorities must step in to restore the calm and peace.

With the country heading for another round of parliamentary elections later this year, the air should be cleaned of such nonsensical mood. We will have enough to worry or be fearful about in the second half of the year – where among many things I expect fear will again be a tactic used to sway votes.

Our perception of fear

Besides the unfounded rumours, our response to fear is something worth looking into. Why do we panic? Why do we go frenzy and irrational when we hear something that might threaten us? The answer is not simply that we are gullible. It is biological and evolutionary.

Fear is the time-tested tool that has been used by corporations, interest groups, political parties and those in power as modes of persuasion and to control the population. This is because our over-reaction to fear is biological. Our brain is composed of three main parts – the inner core, and the oldest part, is called the reptilian core, which provides us our survival instinct. Then there is the limbic layer that controls our emotion, motivation, memory and learning. The outer core is the neocortex layer, which was the last to appear as humans evolved from reptiles to apes to homo sapiens. Neocortex guides our cognitive abilities. To put it simple, the basic functions of the three parts of our brain are to regulate our fear, desire and logic.

When we see or hear any danger, our reptilian brain kicks off and takes control of the whole brain, shutting off the limbic and the neocortex cores. What happens is that we can neither feel or reason out at that instant. It is mother nature’s way to protect us from any threats to our survival. Say you are walking in the jungle and you hear a noice, your reaction is to fearbe the worst and protect yourself. If you are doing the same forest at night, every tree becomes a ghost and every twig looks like a snake.

This discovery of how our brain reacts was however used by politicians and public relations experts to further their own benefits. Nazism was built around the fear of jews, gypsies and the foreigners. The whole American gun industry is built on the “need to protect” yourself and your family from the enemy, which paradoxically includes the State and the government too. Edward Barney, the father of public relations industry, used female emancipation to be free to sell cigarette to women, which then simply doubled the number of smokers in the US. The whole capitalistic marketing campaigns are now either based on fear or desire.

Two examples are:

“Do you know that tuberculosis kills more than HIV/AIDS? Vaccine your child today”,

“Research shows that men are more attracted to fair-skinned women.  YYYYY guarantees you a super white skin in 14 days”.

These types of advertisements still rule our world. No TV commercial is based on logic or rationality.

Danger of living in fear

Prolonged exposure to fear, anxiety and distress over an extended period of time, however, will have severe negative effects and consequences. They stress our brain and leaves an indelible scar. The persistent doses of negative stimuli, in the long run, then could manifest in violence, cynicism or distrust of each other. The deaths from guns in the US can be explained by this theory. People easily get ticked off for nothing. What is happening in the brain, is that over such a period the reptilian brain is getting larger than the neocortex. By the way, our brain expands and contract from our birth till our death. It doesn’t stop growing like our other parts of our body but the growth of one layer often occur at the cost of the other layers.

With modern technology and lifestyle age-old myths are supposed to die. But it seems the  possibilities of sharing rumours on WeChat has proved otherwise. Hopefully we can put to rest such fear-inducing rumours.

*  NB – to parents and educators

1.  Khekpa, apparently is a mispronunciation of Khetpa, which means people from the village of Khet – a settlement in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. In ancient time the village, it is believed, was one of the most backward that practiced sorcery and robbed and killed Bhutanese traders. In other words, they we were barbaric. However, Bhutanese people exaggerated and also stereotyped them as child kidnappers and head hunters. Today the village is affluent with road, electricity, hospital, schools etc and welcomes Bhutanese. However, old myths are hard to die – especially those instilling fears.  

2.  Do not use fear tactics to discipline children. It does more harm than good – often leaving a childhood trauma. Besides, they will never respond well to, or respect, your demands and requirements. Aim for the neocortex brain by trying to reason out and explain the logic and consequences instead of emotional black mails and fear tactics. No child is to small to understand the consequences of their actions.