Why are we afraid of total darkness?

Answer 1

Fear of the un-seen and un-known

Answer 2

I did not know we were! Are you afraid of total darkness? Besides darkness comes in many flavours - blind can't see, lack of education leading to intellectual darkness, or even sound darkness due to be deaf.

Hey, are you talking about Helen Keller darkness or darkness due to the inability of the sun to shine through because of global flatulence?

And why are you so afraid? Close your eyes and feel the energy of the universe penetrate your soul.

Answer 3

Sense deprivation is an interesting thing that has been studied many times over the years. Scientists have studied sleep deprivation, light deprivation, sound deprivation, etc. Your question is one that I am sure they all attempted to answer in some way, shape or form.

Your body has five senses that it relies on heavily for day to day survival. Sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste. Babies exploring their world first explore with smell, then hearing, then sight, then touch and taste. A baby that is born without any of these senses easily adapts to life without them. They can not miss what they do not have.

A human though that is deprived of any of these, even for a short period of time, becomes disoriented in their environment. The basic animal "fight or flight" instinct takes over. What you perceive as fear is actually a heightened state of awareness. You are listening harder to hear what you can not see, you are using your sense of smell and touch more to get where you need to go without seriously injuring yourself. All of these senses are awakened and alive. They are not stronger than they were before you were deprived of your sense of sight, but they are used more. Suddenly, you notice that sound that you didn't hear before you turned out the light, and you wonder where it is coming from. Your ears perk up to sense the location of the sound. Once you realize what it is, you calm again.

If you would like to experiement a bit, go lock yourself in a film developer's dark room with the light out.Listen to how your voice either echos around the room depending on where you are at and what is around you, versus to how it seems to land against something such as many objects in the room. Feel your way around. See what you can smell. Try to sense what area of the dark room you are in by using your sense of smell alone. Then do the same with your other three senses. Have fun with it!

Answer 4

R U telling me that you are afraid to close your eyes and go to sleep at night?Those who are afraid of total darkness are probably very insecure.

Answer 5

Humans cannot see in total darkness.

It's an instinct to want to protect oneself - therefore, humans are more wary in total darkness. It's the feeling of vulnerability.

Answer 6

I used to be scared of the dark when I was a kid because I used to think monsters were going to attack me, so I used to sleep with the light on, but now I love the dark, I couldn't sleep with the light on now. but if I get up in the middle of the night to go down stairs I always put the light on cos it creeps me out, I don't know why.

Answer 7

Me!!! i won't even walk to the end of my garden in half darkness let alone when its pitch black! In total darkness i can't see whats there or not, that scares the crap outa me!!

Answer 8

because we respond to light. That's why the blind are not afraid of darkness.

Answer 9

It's fear of the unknown and we're all afraid of that at some level.

Answer 10

By going thro ths question , the ans s funny...

The true fact whch s n mind of many people::

"Ghost"

Up to me, ths s Frank reply!

May we can answer... due to no light, may hit something, accidental experience, so on..

Its up to u!

Answer 11

Beacuse we are always trying to run away from what we are inside - dark