We are taught to be ashamed of fear.
"Don't
be a coward!" they tell us in school. This is anti-scientific nonsense. Fear
is not weakness; it is intelligence. It is the work of a powerful GPU in
your brain that calculates 1,000 future scenarios in a millisecond and delivers
the result: "Don't go in there, idiot, you’ll get killed". Cowardice
is simply following this wise advice.
Chapter
I: The Evolution of Cowards
Look at
your ancestors. You exist only because your great-great-great-grandfather was a
coward. When a saber-toothed tiger appeared on the horizon, the
"brave" one took a stick and went to fight. He was eaten. His genes
disappeared.
The
"coward" ran away, hid in a tree, and there, trembling with fear, had
sex with a "cowardly" woman. We are the descendants of those who ran
away. Planet Earth is populated by the descendants of cautious paranoiacs.
Bravery is an evolutionary dead end, like the dodo bird that wasn't afraid of
humans.
Chapter II: The Chemistry of Panic
Fear is
like an injection of nitrous oxide into an engine. Adrenaline constricts blood
vessels (so we don't bleed out), dilates pupils (to see threats better), and
shuts down the brain (so we don't overthink). A coward runs faster than an
Olympic champion and jumps over ten-foot fences. Fear is a superpower.
Bravery is simply the absence of this superpower—a defect of the amygdala. A
fearless person is like a car without brakes: flashy and loud, but not for
long.
The
Legend of Bravery and Heroism (Survival Bias)
What is
heroism? Usually, it’s a situation where someone first allowed monstrous
negligence (fire, war, accident), and then someone else has to fix it at the
cost of their life. The heroism of one is always a consequence of the idiocy of
another.
Chapter
I: Berserkers (Mushrooms Instead of Spirit)
Vikings
were considered the standard of bravery. Berserkers threw themselves onto
swords naked. Heroism? No, mushrooms. Their "bravery" was just
a severe form of drug intoxication. They didn't conquer fear — they just
switched off their consciousness.
In the
modern world, this is called a "drunk brawl," but back then it was
called a "heroic feat." Most bayonet charges in military history were
carried out after issuing "the soldier's 100 grams." No sane person
goes toward machine guns while sober.
Chapter
II. Matrosov and the Pillbox
Alexander
Matrosov blocked a pillbox with his body. This is a feat. But cynical physics
says: a human body cannot stop machine-gun bullets. It is pierced right
through. Heroism is a gesture of despair. It is when you have no choice, no
plan, no weapon, and you use the last thing left — your own meat.
The state
adores dead heroes. A dead hero is convenient. He doesn't ask for a pension,
doesn't criticize the government, and doesn't drink vodka. He lies beautifully
in granite and inspires new fools to die for free
Chapter III. Dementia and Courage
Don Quixote
is a symbol of knighthood. But Cervantes wasn't writing about a hero. He was
writing about a mad old man whose mind had slipped from cheap novels. He fought
windmills not because he was brave, but because he had hallucinations. The
boundary between "hero" and "psycho" is drawn only by the
result. If you won — you're a hero. If you lost — you're a psycho.
The
Legend of Pride and Meanness (The Mask and the Knife)
This pair
is the foundation of social relations. Pride is how we want to look. Meanness
is how we act when no one is watching.
Chapter
I: Pride (Lucifer and the Mortgage)
Pride is
considered Sin #1. Lucifer said: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in
Heaven." Sounds pretentious. But in fact: he traded an elite penthouse in
the center of Paradise for a janitor's position in a boiling basement boiler
room.
Pride is
the readiness to live in crap as long as no one dares to tell you what to do. A
proud person will not ask for help. He will die of hunger, but wearing a tie.
Pride is the most expensive accessory. We pay for it with loneliness.
Chapter II: Meanness (The Art of Survival)
Meanness is
rationality stripped of sentimentality. Julius Caesar was surprised: "Et
tu, Brute?". Brutus was not a villain. Brutus was an effective manager. He
realized that Caesar was pulling the republic to the bottom and made a
personnel decision. With a knife.
A stab in
the back is the safest strike. In a fair fight (face to face), you could be
killed. A stab in the back guarantees victory with minimal risks. From an
ethical point of view, it's vile. From a tactical point of view, it's flawless.
Meanness is simply an "asymmetrical response."
Chapter
III. The Career Ladder
Look at any
corporation. Who sits at the top? The smartest? No. The kindest? God forbid.
Those who skillfully combined pride (self-presentation) with meanness
(eliminating competitors) sits there. Meanness is the lubricant that helps you
slide to the top where the honest and proud get stuck.
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