What Fear Can Teach Us About the Stories We Tell Ourselves

It’s 1819, your boat has capsized, and you and 19 of your shipmates are 1,000 miles from the nearest sanctuary of land. You have three options to save yourselves: find the nearest islands 1,200 miles away–islands rumored to be home to cannibals– risk deadly storms and find your way to Hawaii, or take the longest journey towards South America and potentially starve to death before reaching land.

Each option strikes fear into your heart. Which do you choose?

These were the real fears that t...