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Sunday, 30 October 2011

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Blessed are those who live sans fear

It is virtually difficult to find a human being or even an animal living without fear. Although animals have only the fear of death at the hands of a predator, human beings are afflicted with so many other fears such as fear of disease, failure, heights, enclosed areas and death.

Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. The threat may affect our reputation, career, or even life. From time immemorial human beings have been living in fear. For the primitive man who lived more or less like an animal the only fear was death at the hands of a stronger animal. He also feared natural objects such as hills, the sun, storms and fire. As he did not understand what they were he started worshipping them. Especially the sun and fire were treated as living gods. With the dawn of civilisation he understood some of the natural phenomena. However, the desire to worship something or someone did not leave him. So, it is believed that man created various kinds of gods and began to worship them for protection.

For the primitive man fear acted as a stimulus to fight or flee from certain dangers to his life. Two psychologists, John B. Watson and Paul Ekman say that fear belongs to a small set of basic or innate emotions. As an emotion, fear is similar to joy or sadness. The primitive man might have had many other emotions but fear was uppermost in his mind. Without proper shelter, food, health facilities, weapons, or even clothes he had to face many odds in life. The fear of death loomed large and he did not know how to handle it.

Related to future

Modern research shows that an important factor related to fear is that it is closely related to the future. For instance, we have no fear of the past or past events unless they have future repercussions. However, a man committing an offence has the fear of punishment in the future. When a man commits premeditated murder, he has the fear of being arrested, prosecuted and punished. However, he commits the offence thinking that he can get away easily.

Some have a morbid fear of spiders

Although fear is closely related to the future, it can also arise as an instant reaction to something happening now. For instance, if we are surrounded by a pack of fierce dogs, we will try to fight or flee from them. This may be one reason people learn martial arts and other self defence methods to save their lives from extortionists and robbers.

For 30 years we lived in fear of bomb attacks. Thanks to the valiant efforts of political leaders and members of the Security Forces terrorism has been eliminated. However, we have other demons to fear. Drug addicts, armed extortionists, pickpockets, robbers and confidence tricksters have driven fear into everybody. In addition, how many of us are safe on the highway? Speed fiends and reckless drivers can cut short anybody's life. Even pedestrian crossings are no longer safe because most drivers have no respect for those who cross their path.

Minor fears

Apart from such major fears, we also have minor fears which may be real or imaginary. For instance, children and even some adults fear ghosts. The existence of ghosts is a debatable matter. On the other hand, adults fear evil powers. Some people have a morbid fear of cockroaches, spiders, snakes, ladders, heights, enclosed places, open spaces, strangers, foreigners, needles and what not. However, such phobias can be eliminated through psychotherapy.

In a Gallup poll conducted in the United States in 2005, it was found that teenagers feared terrorists, spiders, death, failure, war, heights, gang violence, being alone, the future and nuclear war. The psychologists who conducted the poll termed them as the top ten fears.

Psychological studies affirm that certain areas of the brain (amygdala) are affected when we get a feeling of fear. According to Andreas Olsson the amygdala were affected when subjects observed somebody else being subjected to a fearful event. The subjects got the impression that the same fate awaited them.

Sometimes you may wonder why religious places are full of elderly people. One explanation given by psychologists is that most of us become religious as we advance in age. It is said that fear of death motivates religious commitment because most religions assure us of an after-life. This tends to alleviate the fear of death to some extent. Research also shows that those who are firm in their faith are the least afraid of death.

Death

Death is a taboo topic in our society. It is said that even Americans find it difficult to confront death comfortably. In civilised societies people do not 'die'; they 'pass away'. On the other hand, we never discuss the topic of death with children. In fact, some parents do not take their children to funerals. This undue fear of death is caused by our own social mores.

In Mexican culture, however, death is discussed frequently and is even debated on a national feast day: The Day of the Dead. This shows that some cultures display less fear of death.

Today most adults fear the period of uncertainty that comes before death more than death itself. Old age brings many fears relating to health, income, loneliness and the approaching death. Many philosophers such as J. Krishnamurti and Eckhart believe that it is important to have a well-formulated personal philosophy of death than a link with a particular religion. However, this is a matter of personal choice. Whatever that may be, if we can live without fear, we will be the happiest men and women on earth.

 

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