Man’s Relationship with Fear

Respond to this Friday Faithfuls challenge by writing anything about what think about fear, whether fear helped or hurt mankind, or what is your greatest fear, or if you think man has more to fear now than we did in the past, or you could write about whatever else you think might fit.  Across the ages, fear has been a recurring part of the human experience.  Fear is a built-in defense mechanism that contributes to your body’s fight-flight-freeze response system, that prompts you to stay and fight or run and flee danger.  Our species may not have survived without fear, as that helped humans to quell their recklessness and impulsivity.  Fear can be healthy, and adventure is defined as a risky undertaking with an unknown outcome that may be dangerous, but if fear is taken in the right dose, it could lead to a remarkable experience.  If you decide to embrace that shiver that goes down your spine, and step outside your comfort zone, it is fear that makes you feel alive, which is fun and exciting.  Fear acts as an internal danger alarm, compelling you to action and helping you make wise and prudent decisions.  Without fear, you wouldn’t live very long, because you wouldn’t be aware of or care about the threats around you.  Fear can help you stay in the present moment and allow you to focus.

Fear evolved into a tool that sharpens and challenges us, making us tougher.  Humanity has achieved many remarkable feats throughout history and some of our greatest accomplishments were achieved because of our fear.  The Great Wall of China was built because the Tang Dynasty saw the Turks as a threat.  Medieval people did not know how the bubonic plague was spread and they had no idea what hit them.  Everyone panicked, the gates to come cities were locked, market days were restricted, and citizens were quarantined.  The people were puzzled as they watched their loved ones die a terrible death and many people refused to leave their homes out of fear that they would get sick.  As a result, workers pushed for higher wages and greater mobility, which they received because the elite class in charge were willing to make these concessions, rather than have to work the fields and herd the sheep themselves.  As a result, wages rose, inequality lessened, and the social and labor hierarchies remained the same.  Many good positive things also came out of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as being able to work at home, improved personal hygiene, social distancing and effective mRNA vaccines.  In WWII, America was afraid that the Germans would develop the atomic bomb before us and that provided the incentive to start the Manhattan Project.  In the 1960s, the Russians sent up Sputnik 1 was the first artificial Earth satellite, and President Kenedy was afraid that they would get to the moon first.

Infants come into the world with no real awareness of its dangers, but they do have the sense to start bawling when they hear sudden loud noises and they will cling on to something if they sense they’re falling.  Between 6 or 7 months of age, many babies will experience fear, as they begin to develop a memory of familiar faces, they realize that anyone who they see that isn’t Mom or Dad is potentially a stranger to be feared and they may get hysterical if they are taken away from their mother.  Fear is a very normal part of growing up.  It is a sign that your child is starting to understand the world and the way it works, and that they are trying to make sense of what it means for them.  As children grow, they usually get over fears they had at a younger age, although some kids have a harder time and need more help with fears.  Fear is one of the most instrumental and life informing things that we can experience and the worst fear that man has is the fear that we have for one another, which leads to prejudice, homophobia, xenophobia, misogyny, and hatred for Religions that are different.  During the height of the pandemic, Anthropophobia the fear of other people became the most-searched phobia online in 2020.

Despite all the drawbacks of modern living, we really are living in the most peaceful time in recorded history.  Humans have spent hundreds of thousands of years running from predators and this has influenced our fears.  Since our species lacked hair that covered other animals, that made it easier for other species to digest us.  When early humans saw or heard a sign of danger, like a movement in the grass, or a strange shadow, our hormonal reactions screamed out the fight-or-flight response.  Today, people are more afraid of snakes or being murdered in a dark alley, than we are of driving in our cars, or getting diabetes, even though the risk of dying is greater in or cars or from diabetes than it is from being poisoned by a snake, or from being murdered in an alley.  Humans are born with innate knowledge programmed into us from our genes, but our evolution has not had the chance to catch up with all of the rapid industrial and technological advances, that have been taking place, leaving our instinctive fears to not be especially well-attuned to the things that actually pose the greatest threats.  The mystery of why cats hate cucumbers is normally explained by the natural fear cats have towards snakes, a predator that has been known to attack their ancestors.