Why Are We Becoming Fearful of Pain?
The Index Mindset is meant for investing, not our daily lives
I recently stumbled upon a word called algophobia. It is a generalized fear of pain.
This is a vibe that I get from the current world – especially recently. It is seen in our daily lives. It is seen in our love lives. And it is found in our crippling fear of getting embarrassed.
Times were never easy, but it is becoming more punctuated. The rise of social media certainly doesn’t help. The fears of embarrassment have become more exemplified by the thought of miserably failing at something and going viral for it. We have never been more fearful or resistant to pain. The world is luxurious, compared to the past, but with luxury comes comfort. And if you can remain comfortable and avoid pain, why wouldn’t you?
Part of the reason why Index investing or purchasing a home is a proven, solidified way to build wealth for most is it is an easy way to mitigate risks. If done right, history has proven you can avoid pain. There were hard times, of course – The American subprime mortgage crisis, which was part of the Great Financial Crisis. But over a long enough timeline, index investing works. Home investments can be dependent on other factors, but the reason why the investment succeeds is it goes untouched. It is inaction over action. Comfort over discomfort. Risk-aversion over uncertainty or even opportunity. And it doesn’t care about risk correlating to reward.
I get the index mindset and algophobia in the context of investing. It is great, and it works. It is what most of us should be doing, but I am beginning to fear it is seeping into other areas of our lives where it should not.
We have a ton of conveniences and comforts now. Over the last 20 years, you can invest your money, never think about it, and achieve an average yearly return of 10.473% in the S&P 500. It is pretty great. But on the other side of it, you can impulse spend on Amazon by checking out in one click. Google and Apple Maps allow us to never meaningfully interact with a place, even where we live because we don’t embrace the friction. We all know what dating apps can do. Nothing is wrong with convenience when you use it in the right way, but today, it’s easy to see why convenience is becoming overused and pain is avoided to the point of eventually fearing it.
And man, that feeling – comfort all the way away from pain. I can relish in it. I don’t have to dare to dream. I can stay at a job I don’t like, drift passively through life, and do fine for myself. I don’t have to take a leap of faith. I don’t have to expect love or even believe in it. I can pay it safe, settle for the field goal, and hope to win.
I never have to know about the active management of life. Pain, what’s that? Most of us, especially Gen Z, were exposed to this at a young age. We can have algorithms make decisions for us. College and career choices can be hedged or automated. Friendships can be maintained with a snap streak rather than actual effort. We know creative efforts as being the fifth or sixth spin-off rather than an off-beat, new effort.
We are starting only to know comfort and not pain. I wonder about the next generation. Born into a world fearful of pain and deprived of the painful experiences that make us human. One day, they may hear of their grandparents' stories and wonder how they dealt with such pain and discomfort.
Maybe I am overemphasizing. Maybe this is something that we have always felt. But my sense is it has never been stronger. Previous generations never knew so much indexing and never turned away so hard from pain. Older generations still refuse to have food delivered and will instead go to the grocery five times a week. People even still read the newspaper and avoid downloading social media. Something is different this time.
But people are beginning to recognize the prevalence of algophobia. It is why people are doing things such as 75 Hard. I think that is why we are seeing a rise in the sales of flip phones. It probably helps to explain the popularity increase in fitness races such as Hyrox, running, gym memberships, or even Startups. It explains the crash of dating app stocks as they struggle to monetize us. It’s part of the reason why I write, my first thought was to do something bigger than me but also to seek uncomfortable enlightenment. The fear of putting myself out there, yes, but also taking active management of my life and trying to make me better.
We don’t have to have algophobia. We can prioritize doing things that make us uncomfortable. We can move towards things that might be painful but will improve our lives. We don’t have to fear pain. Every person you admire, respect, or look up to will tell you that life involves risk and making a jump. And as for a pain-free life? They would probably call that an oxymoron. It is easier to be a pessimist than it is easier to be an optimist because pessimism is what sells. Optimism comes in the active management of our lives and believing that we can do something in a world that tries to convince us to avoid pain and remain comfortable and complacent.
For investing, index investing and avoidance of pain work. We can diversify, set it and forget it, and hedge against undesired risk. But I am sure, no one seeks to go through life not testing what they are capable of. And sometimes, that requires smashing our fears and taking active management of our lives. Because that is living. It is uncomfortable, it really is. But we should face those fears and smash that pain.
Appreciate you and your time. Leave a comment or like if you enjoyed!
-Scantron