Fear Has No Place in the Academy

In his recent book on Eastern European Christian dissidents, Rod Dreher explains the growth of totalitarianism in society, and he says, “For a man desperate to believe, totalitarian ideology is more precious than life itself.” The fear that this worldview is going to shatter and be shown for the lie that it is is so powerful that those who are trying to maintain totalitarian power will literally do whatever it takes to maintain the illusion that they have built.

CS Lewis wrote something similar in his essay entitled, “On the Living in an Atomic Age.” He contended, “If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.” Something like an atomic bomb is certainly scary because it can end our lives promptly, but the worst part of the atomic bomb’s power is that it uses fear to strip us of our humanity. It gets us sitting around and worrying all the time instead of actually living.

In both of these situations, fear is driving action. The totalitarian state is in fear that people will realize their façade and rightfully throw off the oppressive regime, so they will literally do whatever it takes, often to tragic results, to preserve that illusion. People living in the shadow of an atomic bomb might fear the bomb so much that they might forget to live authentically.

Sometimes we bring fear into our academic pursuits as well. In the first scenario, we might feel pretty confident in our knowledge. We feel like we are in a position of relative power. However, someone might bring an argument to our attention that we have never thought of. Our tendency in that scenario is to become mini totalitarian dictators. If we just disregard that inconvenient point, we can just move on, assuming that we are okay.

In the second scenario, we might simply be overwhelmed by whatever project we have undertaken, and that may paralyze us. This is a common trend among PhD students from what I hear. A dissertation is a massive undertaking, and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that you are expected to take in, process, and analyze. Therefore, rather than move ahead and push towards completion, that fear gets in the way again.

Clearly either scenario is flawed, but as academics, we cannot be fearful. Instead, we need to push ahead humbly. We need to boldly learn, not fearing truth and where it might lead while simultaneously remaining humble enough to recognize our own limitations. Fear leads to these darker impulses, but they have no place in the Academy.