Avoiding Rocks

I was having a few beers with good friends in a pub recently, when conversation landed on the subject of fear...fear used as a marketing tactic, or toward political ends (terrorism).

"I won't listen to anyone who pushes fear," they agreed.

Which I liked.

Applied to our own lives, we decided a good analogy is kayaking or canoeing whitewater, where the technique is always to focus on where you want the boat to go. To look at rocks is to hit them.

Something in eye-hand coordination.
Something in human behavior.

Applied to fear, of course, the advice would be to concentrate on what you want your world to look like. Focus on the good (where you want the boat to go), and ignore the bad (rocks).

What remains unresolved for me, however is the balance.

In order to avoid rocks, we must first acknowledge their existence. And, as with canoeing or kayaking, practice and education are involved. Boat-handling skills are a combination of evolving mental strategies and physical systems to work in coordination.

Where is the fine line in the process of informing people about potential problems — as a means of allowing them to make rational choices...to avoid rocks?