Yeah, I like that line too. Fear is too often brushed off as weakness or some sort of defect. That denies our fundamental humanity and ignores reality at the same time. In such dismissive conditions, it’s hard to have a meaningful discussion or get many results.

It sounds like most of the fears you mentioned can be lumped into the ‘unpredictability’category. “Fear of the unknown” is probably another way to put it. Totally normal.

Rather than the pure survival aspect of fear, it’s also useful to examine the impact reproductive selection has had on our minds. This comes into play particularly in social settings… even in societies that don’t worry so much about survival on a day-to-day basis.

The moment we can handle our fear, the more we can unleash our true capabilities.

You know, I'd be pretty pissed if I died from some little bug.

Very interesting analysis. I often find that I'm only afraid of things until I actually try them. The zip line at the team building exercise is scary as hell until I go down once. Then, I wish we could go a second round. The big slide at Wet 'n' Wild made me want to vomit until I tried it (because the guys I went with wouldn't let me access my locker until I went down it). Then, it wasn't so bad. I see a similarity with the car analogy. If I had only been in a car going 75 mph once or twice (as I have only been in buildings 20+ stories high a handful of times) I would likely be much more afraid of driving (or riding).

Love the thought-provoking read.
My recent post I’ll Join Your Group if You Take My Pictcha

Earl above mentioned the notions of ‘dangerous’ areas too. I’ve had a lot of conversations about that and basically reached the same conclusions you mention. Yet every time the conversation comes up, I’m continually surprised how often people don’t get the analogy that bad parts in (insert city of your choice) are like bad parts of other cities… in general. Certainly, all cities and cultures and moments in time are not equal, but… The tendency for some to assume the worst is strong. It’s the unpredictability thing again… from a completely different angle.

The “creepy crawly” type fears are weird. I mean… we know that they’re basically harmless, but they tend to trip people out even when they’re identified and not moving in an unpredictable manner. I’d guess it has something to do with our fears being evolved to account for classes of creatures… or general shapes and sizes rather than the colors or specific traits we use to distinguish them.

Bees are the worst for me.

Another "fear" is that I won't look as good as the guy on the magazine cover if I don't do this workout, take this supplement, hold my mouth right while doing dead lifts, etc, etc, etc. Nope, I probably won't ever look that good. Not supposed to. Don't really care. I don't have an airbrush following me around to make it so.

Recently, my daughter returned from a 4 month trip to Chile. We were talking about her experience and she commented that one of the most interesting things she learned was that other countries were not scary like they are often made out to be. She met great people, saw cool places and learned to speak the language well. She came back with a great experience and feeling about the people and places she visited in spite of the fact she was mugged while she was there. She said, "you know Dad, I walked down a street I shouldn't have. It could have happened anywhere". Backtrack 30 years. This small town Southern boy visited NYC and LA in his early 20's looking for job opportunities. Because of the things I had heard based on things that people say I went with not fear, but a high level of apprehension. OK, it was really a bit of fear. So what I found were big cities with high energy levels that were a hell of a lot of fun. Again, go fearlessly to where ever and perhaps into whatever, watch your topknot and use common sense. Stuff can happen anywhere but probably won't.

The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions – Alfred Adler