I used to be afraid of women, so I'd take them flying, where I felt at home with all those dials and gadgets, and my fear was reduced.
Appropriate to the nature of the flight, most of those dials and gadgets are there for a reason, and then there are a few aircraft owners who put in more, just so they have the more cool plane. Most of them have a good reason for being there, and many are required by regulation, depending upon the nature of the intended operation of the aircraft.
On the other hand, while recently restoring the cockpit of my second aircraft, I took out several items, which are not required, and I really do not want. On the other hand, owners of some aircraft are burdened by requirements to have additional gadgets, some of which you can't even see, but they cost a small fortune. You just get used to it.
And then you're flying along, and some of the dials stop working, and gadgets don't gadge. Then you don't have information that you'd like to have, and you will have a bill to fix it.
And so they developed the "Minimum Equipment List" to which the pilot can refer to determine if he/she is allowed to fly with that gadget not gadging. I was once an observer on a test flight of a modified turbine DC-3. The copilot tapped the glass on the face of the ammeter to see if was reading. He broke the glass. The MEL said no ammeter - no fly - so no flight test. Now the company rule is that you tap beside the gadget, not on the glass.
The location of many of the instruments and controls in certified aircraft is prescribed by regulation, more regulation, if the aircraft is newer than the mid 1970's in original design. So, when you get looking more carefully at what they all are, they fit a predictable pattern. This should reduce the chance of an experienced pilot moving the wrong knob at the wrong time. For many controls, the location relative to the aircraft centerline, and other controls, knob colour and shape, and direction of movement are all described - and then I go and test fly the Tiger Moth, where some are backward! But then the people who designed it drive on the other side of the road too, so I guess it makes some sense
So if you have a fear of too much information on too many dials, go men's wristwatch shopping for an hour, and you should be fine with planes after that!