But a fifth – a nameless one – may best represent the anxieties of the 21st century. (Look no further than the recent rise of the emoji.)įor over the last three centuries, Europeans and Americans, in particular, have shaped anxiety and paranoia into the mythic figure of the monster – the embodiment of fear, disorder and abnormality – a history that I detail in my new book, “Haunted.” People often create symbols for that emotions are fleeting, abstract, and hard to describe. Sometimes the specifics vanish almost as quickly as they arose, but the addiction to sensation, to fear and fantasy, persists, like a low-grade fever. Now, with the rise of social media, fears and fads and fancies race instantly through entire populations. In the past, rumor and a rudimentary press coverage could fan the fires. But in a sense, these have always played a role. In the U.S., life expectancy is higher than ever, our air is the cleanest it’s been in a decade and, despite a slight uptick last year, violent crime has been trending down since 1991.Įmerging technology and media could play a role.
Fear continues to saturate our lives: fear of nuclear destruction, fear of climate change, fear of the subversive, and fear of foreigners.īut a recent Rolling Stone article about our “age of fear” notes that most Americans are living “in the safest place at the safest time in human history.”Īround the globe, household wealth, longevity and education are on the rise, while violent crime and extreme poverty are down.
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