Fear

[Loading Please Wait]

What is fear?

Why are we afraid? What are we afraid of?

Here is my interpretation.

As a general consensus, of all of the people I ask this in real life (not a huge amount of people but my close friends mostly) they all agree that they are afraid of the unknown, and of death.

You'll always get the common answers too mixed in: height, snakes, spiders, men with chainsaws, the dark, deep water, etc.

What do these things have in common? They are all related to the unknown and death.

Why are people afraid of heights?

I can see how if you are high up on top of a building, you are afraid of falling down to the ground, which could kill you.

Why are people afraid of snakes, spiders and men with chainsaws?

Snakes, spiders and men with chainsaws kill people. (or cut trees down)

Why are people afraid of the dark, and deep water?

You can't see in the dark, and you have no idea what's beneath you in deep water. This leads to not knowing, which is the unknown.

I think those two things are what causes fear.

Why do Christians believe in such a far-fetched story about a cosmic Jewish zombie that can make them live forever if they symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him that they accept him as their master, so he can remove an evil force from their soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree.

They are told that if they sin, they will go to hell. It is that Christians are afraid of not knowing if they are going to spend eternity in heaven or hell after death.

Sad that humans could be so easily deceived in these modern times...

Honestly, I am not afraid of many things. I am not afraid of spending eternity in hell. I am not afraid of many unknown things. It is scary not knowing what is going to happen to my love ones after I die and things like that. I believe death is just like before we were born.

My interpretation of what fear is, I'm sure you guys have your own ideas as well.

[reverendjeremiah]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfC4u5GCy3I

[kılıç_mehmet]

Are you not afraid of death?
If I knew that there was a life beyond death, I'd not be as afraid from death as I am right now.

[frankiej]

I don't see why people are afraid of death... Nothingness sounds like bliss to me.

[Violet]

Death isn't anything to fear.

But feeling like your heart is going to explode? That's terrifying.

And not having any idea how to help someone with fibromyalgia while they are spasming in pain? That's horrifying, and sucks balls.

[Zen Badger]

Are you not afraid of death?
If I knew that there was a life beyond death, I'd not be as afraid from death as I am right now.

Why be afraid of death?

It is merely an ending, after which there is nothing, certainly no me or you to experience it.

The only thing I'm afraid of is not having lived.

[Erinome]

I think fear comes from the unknown, ignorance, and misunderstanding. There are some things that are healthy to fear like strange men lurking in alleyways, sharks, bears, venereal disease, etc.

Fear of death, especially in the moments before certain death, is certainly a natural fear.

Fear is complex.

[frankiej]

Fear of the moments before death... I can understand that.
It might be the fear of pain, or the fear of regret.

[reverendjeremiah]

Are you not afraid of death?
If I knew that there was a life beyond death, I'd not be as afraid from death as I am right now.

Strange, when i believed in Christianity, I was afraid of death. When I became an atheist and realized death was final, death didnt scare me as bad. In fact death now sounds peaceful to me.

I dont want to rush it...but it will come eventually.

[ElDinero]

I honestly don't think I've ever been afraid of death. It's coming, could happen any second, and I'll be none the wiser.

I can understand fear of pain. Anyone who fears death: Why?