Why do people fear change?

Question

Change is inevitable, isn't it? So why do people despise change, even sometimes when such changes don't negatively affect their own lives?

Answer 1

because people become comfortable in their situation and don't want anything to change...change can be good or bad and you don't know what it will be until you are in it...so it is frightening to most...i like change as i hate being bored...and good or bad...it's different...

Answer 2

its not that people despise change. they just fear a sudden change. you cant put a person that is used to a calm, quiet life and just throw him into a heart of a city that is busy, and loud such as new york. you have to gradually change into that environment. best example one that everyone has heard is the frog and boiling water. you cant just stick him in their when the water is already boiling or it will jump out. you have to let the temperature gradually increase and before the frog knows what happened its dead. you stick a farmer in a city he'll leave and say he hates the city and he will never return. same with the person from the city. he will say this life is to slow and to boring. the only ones that can handle change is the middle man. why do you think the military soldiers and their families can easily move around and change so easily? i only say this because i was born into the military. im a person used to changing the sceneries after staying in one location for 3-5 years.

Answer 3

we are taught from the day we are born that conformity to the norm is safe.
conform to the ways of a society and you are safe.
its natural self preservation.
change is inevitable and if we stop being sheep for one moment we all can see it.
remember a line from men in black
A person is smart. People are dumb.
the social interaction of humans is one of conformity.
the one who stands alone and challenges the norm is smart but usually ridiculed and feared and attacked.

we would all be flying around in computer controlled flying cars and all look fantastic and there would be no pollution and a single Utopian society would exist around the world if we, collectively, as a human species, stopped to listen to one man or one ideal.

but we don't, our flaw about being human is just that ... we are human.
politicians know this very well ... we must change to continue to exist but if i change too much the people don't like it and vote someone else.
this is why the most remembered ones are the ones with the good speeches, Winston Churchill for example.
inspired the nation to keep going even though we were getting bombed senseless he kept the 'British stiff upper lip' as its known fighting strong.

a person, when they think about it and are smart embrace change
people however fear change and don't want to rock the boat.

fear of the unknown.

silly species aren't we

Answer 4

This is because of an psychological entity called the ego.

The ego loves attachement to things and derives it sense of identity from the external world.

Because of this the ego is also the cause of the majority of pain in the human psyche and controls our thoughts and therefore emotions.

The ego will attach itself to something - another person, a job, a status, a level of respect, fame, possessions - and will derive its sense of identity and worth from these entities. You can even derive your sense of identity from an opinion or a way of doing things and Nicky above has provided a good example of this.

When one of these external attachements changes - the person leaves you, a car is stolen, a job is lost, respect is lost etc - the ego will be in a sense of dissaray and great fear for there will be a void in the place of that attached entity and the ego will give the person a much reduced sense of worth when this entity is lost.

That is why people feel so empty and worthless when their partner leaves them for example. They were attached to that person egotistically.

The emptiness you feel when this happens is the emptiness or void in the ego.

Therefore all change will cause great fear inside the ego - the fear of being noone, of being empty.

To overcome this and to have the ability to move into the unknown without fear, involves dissolution of the ego which is another story but basically involves the recognition that all external forms are impermanent, the ability to live totally in the present moment.

Dissolution of the Ego will convert the needy, fearful and clingy person into a person who enjoys things, situations, people……….while they last…….and there will be no pain on their departure.

They will go with the cosmic flow of life instead of resisting it and this will bring them great peace.

Answer 5

Fear of the unknown keeps them in their own little rut. But i always believed that no matter what, one door can not open until another closes. Change can be a very scary prospect for some, but it IS inevitable.

Answer 6

'Comfort Zones.' I think may be the simplest of answers.

If you begin by looking at a child and the world it inhabits, and the comfort it gets from familiarity. Then begin from to scale it up into the adult world.

Have you ever bought a new pillow and found (although hard to define the Why of it) that it's not as comfortable as the previous / other one! And although 'it's just a pillow,' why is it that it (may seem to) matters so much?

You could swap the pillow to some article of clothing ~ a well worn pair of jeans or everyday shoes, in this context.

Sash.

Answer 7

It often disrupts pattern,..a routine that you have and are often comfortable with. Sometimes change is a good thing but needs time to be recognised as such until then it's just inconvenience!

Answer 8

well, personally, i think it's because change implies uncertainty, most of the time. and people hate being uncertain. and we are all used to being in our comfort zones, that change is very unimaginable when living the way we used to live as always. it's not that we despise it, it's more of difficulty of accepting change, and thinking of it as something as inevitable as changing underwear. change doesn't always have to be good or bad, but most of the time, change affects the way we view life. it's like going back to square 1 after going on a long journey to the end of the great wall of china. admittedly, i fear change as much as i fear uncertainty. it has always been my weakness, maybe because when i was younger, i experienced 'change' and it made me fear life itself. but, since entering college, i am more reluctant to deny change, because i've realized that change is being diverse, and if i want to succeed, i have to be diverse and adaptable. honestly, i hate change, it was never my will to feel or experience 'change', but once there, it wasn't also my will to go back the way it was before. =)

Answer 9

As a nurse - our roles are changing all the time and it is the older longer qualifieds which do not like change. they are reluctant to learn new skills and try new stuff prefering to being boring with the "that's the way we've always done it" phrase. Change can be a positive thing and can make something more effective etc. it's just an excuse!!

Answer 10

I personally am scared of change i would prefer to stay in my comfort zone i hate going abroad because of the drastic change in my day to day life while on holiday.
Because its scary and unkown.
But i know change happens and has to happen and sometimes change is for the better.

Answer 11

Show the positive reasons if its you who wants someone else to change. A birds nest is too cosy to move away from, humans react in the same way, once a person becomes cosy, they enjoy remaining that way, unless there's REAL REASON to change.