Yes, it can be scary, but usually this is the safest strategy. You can implement your own strategy and use it very easily (https://github.com/PressLabs/gitfs/tree/master/gitfs/merges).

Also, you can see how conflicts are solved, directly in the implementation (https://github.com/PressLabs/gitfs/blob/master/gitfs/merges/...).

Do you want to know something more specific?