"If it scares you, I think you should do it"

On how struggle shapes us, and why it is necessary

Danger hides in a small corner, and that is why it is so valuable. We prefer safety over risk, but forget the value of the challenge. Just like strong trees, which anchor their roots deeper into the ground when the wind pushes against their trunks, we too need resistance. It makes our body, our beliefs, and our principles stronger and more reliable, so we can withstand the storms that test our resilience.

Trees that never face the wind sometimes break under their own weight. The lack of challenge has kept them weak, making them easy prey for the whims of nature. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has pointed out the same truth: humans, like trees, are anti-fragile. We are not merely harmed by adversity; we are shaped by it. Without wind, there is no strength.

It takes a necessary suffering that allows for great heights of human flourishing. Falling into inertia and lethargy from decadence will accomplish nothing. We spend hours in empty entertainment, which says much but means little. In this way, we develop a thin, translucent skin that tears at the slightest discomfort. We no longer expose ourselves to the forces of nature, and we develop a fragile resistance.

Everything that grows is tested. A constant balance between discovery and defense is the foundation of a flourishing human life. Even now, with the rise of new technologies like artificial intelligence, everything revolves around a process of exploration and exploitation, just like in machine learning.

In this overprotective world, we constantly choose the safe path because we no longer trust each other. A deeply rooted sickness spreads across the world, and in our numbness, we lose the strength that once made us resilient. Now, only art and poetry warm our hearts, but even these forms of beauty are truly valuable only when we understand what it really means to live.

Nietzsche recognized this long ago: “Build your cities on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.” In both body and mind, sometimes we are better off in conflict. Valuable knowledge sticks because it’s hard-earned, and physical resilience is built through real exposure.

Challenge one another and let our roots anchor deeper. Only then can we grow and flourish as a society. No one is better off in the vain convictions of their own illusions.