Taking risks key- only a chance of positive action from the af

Polt 2005
Richard Polt, Heidegger's Being and Time: Critical Essays, Published by Rowman
and Litlefield publishers
Thus a young person learns that there are situations in which one must tell the truth
and others in which one lies. Although this daunting, the adolescent has to decide
whether the current situation ii one of building trust, giving support, maniupulaing
the other person for his or her own good, harming a brutal antagonist, and so forth.
If, for instance, trust is the issue, the young person has to decide when
and how to tell the truth. Since such decisions are risky, they give rise to
the anxiety that goes with free choice. In the face of this anxiety the
learner is tempted to seek the security of standards and rules. For example,
if a risk-averse young person decides that a situation is one of trust and
so tells a friend more than the friend can bear and thereby loses the
friendship, he may decide on the rule, "Never tell more truth than is
absolutely necessary." This rule may prevent new breakdowns in similar
situations, but it will also prevent further skill refinement. In this case, it
will prevent frank and flexible friendships. In general, if one seeks to
follow rules one will not get beyond competence." There is no substitute
for taking risks.