The World Is on Fire. Now What? |
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The Greek god Pan was a wild deity – half goat, half man, a creature of the wilderness who played pipes and chased nymphs. He is the god of nature, of groves and glens, of cherries bursting crimson and branches heavy with flowers. He is the god of spring and fertility, of the world bursting into splendor.
But like all gods, he also has a darker side.
When Pan appeared to travelers crossing remote places, or to soldiers in battle, his presence could trigger an overwhelming, irrational terror. People would lose all sense of direction and scatter headlessly. The Greeks called this divinely generated madness panikon — literally, “pertaining to Pan”. And that’s where our word panic comes from.
It’s a useful origin story, because it captures something psychology also suggests: panic is more than ordinary fear. It’s a sudden state of alarm that can flood the body and make clear thinking much harder. And if that state sounds familiar right now, well, join the club.
Why Panic Doesn’t Serve You
The triggers are everywhere today. Wars are destroying communities and destabilizing economies. Artificial intelligence is advancing fast enough to make entire professions feel precarious. And the leadership that’s supposed to provide a steady hand often feels like the opposite.
When we are under acute stress, or suffering from high anxiety, thinking tends to narrow; flexible problem-solving becomes harder, and people are more likely to fall back on........