Why do we fear what we don't understand?
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M$12 Answers
That's why the extraordinary and the incomprehensible have often been a source of both fear and fascination because it makes us wonder and it heats up the imagination. Probably why the question of death and afterlife have always been a source of debate in any part of the globe. In the same way ghosts, monsters, mythical creatures, and the like have been a constant theme in movies and literature.
Fear to me is both an evil and a drug - we abhor it when it limits us yet we are also drawn to it as proven by many people's penchant for thrillers and horror movies. It ca be a motivation for people who like the challenge to conquer and discover.
Opinion
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M$We fear death not because it is unexplainable but because we don't know what will happen. If we don't know what will happen then their is the possibility of bad stuff happening after death. The same thing goes with aliens. Aliens might want to attack earth in order to use our resources so they are something that can be feared.
Although death might have the possibility of containing a less than hopeful outcome we need to consider that religion is being used to exploit that rational fear to an irrational level. The same thing goes with aliens. Although aliens are scary we need to make sure that we know that what evidence we have of their proximity to earth is purely hearsay. And even with evidence that they are close to us we can't know what their intentions are.
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M$
Hmmm. I think you are using unexplainable in a way that is synonymous with the unknown. Fear is a very powerful emotion. So powerful that it can become irrationally intense.So the perfectly rational fear of the unknown can become a fear that is more powerful than it should be.
I think that their is a separate fear of the "unexplainable" in that things that aren't readily comprehended by the human mind become scapegoats for our desire to think in an overly simplistic way. I think it is a different thing though.
We can explain death, but only like this "you stop living" in more words.
and that's about as far as it gets. No one can explain what it is like to die, so I would say it is something completely unexplainable. Would you agree? or would it be the same as you saying we fear something bad is gonna happen when we die?
Then we have the religion part. People who believe they are going somewhere good when they die do not fear something bad will happen after death, but this does not mean they don't fear death just as much as the rest of us. Why do you think that is?
However due to various conditioning or learning people do tend to fear on the subjects or items you listed . In fact thats not due to the fact that they don't understand , their fear 'coz they think they understood that subject (item) some manner how much silly others think , Death ( after that you are going to face judgement day , no more life , you cant have fun ..etc..coz all the religions say so) , Aliens ( they kill you , they are dangerous .blah blah ..coz some hollywood movie says , Ghosts ( they are deadly and dangerous .. mom said that) , River monsters ( i really dont know what it is .. im damn curious )
personal experience
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M$
@irishstephen1974 i think you are referring fight-flight responses, i totally agree with you . At the same time flight-fight resposes are instincts , fear on other side are conceptual.
to make my claim clear here im giving a example .
Physiological changes precedes instincts , your mouth dries first as you see a tiger . exactly opposite happens when you fear.
However the concept of tiger being seen in the wild and the zoo is little tricky.probably its due to preparedness. What if you suddenly saw a dinosaur in a zoo ??!! tricky isnt it ? ;)
I don't necissisarily agree with you on this one.
I think humans instinctually have fears on a primal level, and not all fears are learned (as you suggested).
For instance a fear of insects is perfectly justified (as humans have an instinct to self-preserve) until you learn more about them and discover that not ALL insects will harm you.
Same thing with say, a tiger. If you saw a tiger in teh wild, you may be scared as the fight or flight instinct takes over, however, seeing one at the zoo will not cause the same reaction (as you know the zoo is "safe.")
See what I mean?
Still, I agree with you about ghosts and aliens being instilled and learned.
My good friend Matt has a baby boy who (at the time) was about 9 months old - he walked into his baby's room late one night to see his baby having a very animated conversation with.... his closet. He kept saying "lady, lady!" and pointing to the closet and laughing. While that scared the poop out of both Matt and me when he told me, the baby had no reason to be afraid of something dead, as to him, it was perfectly normal and hadn't been told that he SHOULD be afraid...
is that river monster . i saw such creature in some chinese movie , now i remember .
we have one in grand rapids, well now its a pond monster but still, it once was a river monster.
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M$To fear everything and be careful to avoid harm is a much more successful strategy than the opposite - being fearless. An evolutionary biologist might go so far as to explain that all of our ancestors who didn't fear lions, tigers and bears and other dangerous stuff didn't live long enough to reproduce, which is the basis of what we all know as the Darwin Award.
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M$
Because we can't get that experience of death (until we die) and ghosts and such, we don't know what they're like and thus, our imagination goes to its limits. It seems the human mind always imagines the worst thing possible in many situations. Our own imagined situations cause us fear because we can't literally see or experience these things. So, we kind of make ourselves scared just because we don't have tangible experience or knowledge. I wonder what the cure to it is!
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M$I'm more afraid of humans than I am the supernatural. I'd rather face off a dozen vampires or be abducted by aliens than come face to face with a serial killer or even a petty thief on the streets.
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M$
Why are you afraid of a petty thief?
because...liver was the first thing that popped in my mind lol seem to know a lot about the black market there!
I guess I was wondering why a thief is scary but an alien isn't, i suppose its easier to be aware of a bad person, over a bad UFO.
why liver ? it grows back very rapidly and comes at less price when compared to all other organs . humble kinda thief it seems
uhh cause he could shank me. or kidnap me and hold me for ransom. or knock me unconscious and sell me to an underground slave trade.or cut out my liver and sell it on the black market. lol the list goes on and on.
I believe we often think of these things in both good, and negative lights. It really depends, at times I fear death, and others I embrace it. It's inevitable and that scares everyone. Knowing that one day your not going to be able to walk on this earth, and see what you've always known can frighten the strongest of individuals. But death really shouldn't scare you by the way, it's just a process. -
As for the aliens : Assume that aliens exists with technology to arrive here from there solar system/planet something far more advanced than our own we would be scared about protecting ourselves. Not only that but if aliens exist that brings up many questions about religions as do ghost and the after life. If we don't understand it where going to be terrified at first, until we see what it really is.
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M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Why would all adventure be overcoming a fear? If I got to go up in an open cockpit biplane it would arouse my sense of adventure and my adreneline would get going when I was doing barrel rolls but I wouldn't necessarilly be overcomeing a fear as I know it's safe.
someone who's looking for adventure would be overcoming a fear. Wouldn't the sense of adventure come from over powering your fears?
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M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Outstanding answer. Disturbing picture. Both = greatness! Good job!