The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow is a symbol of all the fears and anxieties that have been aroused in our conscious minds through continual over exposure to negative and over-blown news stories via television, newspapers and radio. Through these fears and anxieties, some people are prone to irrationally expend precious mental energy consciously protecting themselves from a whole range of perceived threats (MRSA, SARS, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, Hoodies, Immigrants, Paeodophiles etc), threats that have been unleashed upon us like mad crows by the sensation-seeking news media.Our personal psychological scarecrows (they range in size from person to person) will continue to live in the fertile soil of our imagination, irrationally warning off many exaggerated and flighty threats, unless we somehow adopt intelligent scepticism to help us see each scare story in its true perspective.
Exhibiting the scarecrow in public places – locations where you wouldn’t normally expect to find a scarecrow – is a way of suggesting that many scare stories that we are made aware of are so often reported out of context, leaving the recipient to fill in the blanks for themselves. As Dan Gardner alludes to in his book ‘Risk’, being alerted to fear is essential to human survival, but when fear overrides reason, hysteria and panic can ensue, which is not good for our well being.
Exhibiting the scarecrow in public places – locations where you wouldn’t normally expect to find a scarecrow – is a way of suggesting that many scare stories that we are made aware of are so often reported out of context, leaving the recipient to fill in the blanks for themselves. As Dan Gardner alludes to in his book ‘Risk’, being alerted to fear is essential to human survival, but when fear overrides reason, hysteria and panic can ensue, which is not good for our well being.
