What Courage Looks Like in an Uncertain World

It may depend on what and who you value most

I stumbled on a new-ish study about courage this week that got me thinking: Most of us see courage as a good thing — a virtue or sign of good character — but what exactly does it mean to act with courage in today’s uncertain world?

That’s an insanely large question, I know. Another one too big to tackle in a newsletter — but worth asking all the same.

First, though, let me tell you about the study, which was published earlier this year in The Journal of Positive Psychology.

Three professors at Clemson University in South Carolina asked 300 college students and 1,254 other adults to evaluate the courage of two people who were in the news back in 2015. One was Caitlyn Jenner for her public gender transition. The other was former Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who spent five nights in jail because she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Now, if you strongly react to one of those examples, I get it. So do I! And that’s part of the point of the study.

The good professors were exploring courage not just as actions that reflect “feeling the fear and doing it anyway.” They were exploring how our values influence what we perceive as courageous.

So, as you may by now have guessed, the study revealed that those who leaned left tended to find Caitlyn Jenner to be courageous. Those who leaned right tended to find Kim Davis so.

Put another way: Courage, like most things, is at least partly in the eye of the beholder. It’s not just about some kind of neutral risk-taking. Our values also influence how we perceive courage. In the case of this study, whether you are pro-equality or anti-equality for LGBTQ+ people would likely influence whether you see Jenner or Davis as courageous.

But what about any of the other big issues of today—which, yes, still include LGBTQ+ equality as well as racial equality, economic equality, the state of democracy, and climate change, among other things?

In particular, what does courage in a changing climate look like? I am sure there are some who see support for fossil fuels as courageous. I don’t. And so, that doesn’t seem a very fruitful line of inquiry (though I am sure others could make it so.)

What interests me is what courage looks like for those of us who are concerned about the growing impact of climate change.

And here, there are endless possibilities — depending on who you are, who and what you most care about, and what actions are open to you.

If you are a parent, it could mean creating openings for your children to talk about their thoughts and feelings about climate change (even though you don’t have any easy answers.) If you are a young person, it could look like challenging the adults in your life to do more.

If you work for an organization or live in a community that is not doing enough, it could be standing up and saying something and, better still, initiating some action. If you already lead on climate—as I know some of you do—courage could look like trying something new even when you feel you’ve tried everything.

The list, of course, goes on. But the telltale sign seems to be: If you have an impulse to do something that feels meaningful and makes you a little shaky, you are probably on the right track. Just know at least some of us are sure to see you as courageous.

P.S. I will soon begin sharing interviews with people I see as courageous. I’d welcome your suggestions.