For example, if a person says they are afraid of flying, aren't they really saying they are afraid of crashing? Afraid of swimming is really a belief in the power of drowning? Fear of heights is really a belief in falling?
2007-09-19 08:30:35 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Good question, FC.
Fear is a negative expectation. When I say that I have a fear of heights, or of spiders, or of chocolate milk, what I am really saying is that I have an expectation that these things will have a negative impact on me. I may not necessarily believe I am going to fall, but I expect that I am going to experience vertigo or some other unpleasantness. And while some fears do have a single expected negative outcome, many do not. I, for example, have a fear of crowds. I don't have a negative expectation of a specific event, such as being knifed, suffocated, trampled, or robbed. But I do have a negative expectation of "something bad".
2007-09-19 08:52:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Fear is irrational. An acronym is False Evidence Appearing Real.
I wasn't clear on your position to alter what is clearly stated as a fear. The fear of flying is different from the fear of crashing. The fear of swimming is different than the fear of drowning.
The issue can be that two people can share a fear, but for different reasons. Two people may share a fear of being alone, one may do so out of a fear of dying, another a fear of boredom, another a fear of depression, another a fear of being assaulted.
It is always problematic when we attempt to universal concepts such as these.
2007-09-19 11:27:34 · answer #2 · answered by guru 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I suppose that is true in most instances.
Nobody wants to say, "I'm afraid of dying" but that is what they really mean.
Of course some fears are irrational, and some fears are simply fear of the unknown. So you can't make a blanket statement here.
2007-09-19 10:56:05 · answer #3 · answered by greengo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok, if you're scared of flying, then obviously you have to connect that with the possibility of the plane crashing. hence, you would be afraid of flying, because you're going really fast, and you could crash. You can't separate the two. Afraid of heights, you're afraid of falling from something high.
People fear things because of uncertainty. Simple.
2007-09-19 08:41:31 · answer #4 · answered by Josh 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You may be on to something. One possibility is that to actually vocalize "crashing," "drowning," etc., is to "invite" the disaster. Consider,the old saying, "speak of the Devil and he's sure to appear." We couch many things in euphemisms which step around simpler and more "brutal" statements of a situation. For instance, a life insurance salesman may say, "if there is a claim," when he means, "If you die..."
2007-09-19 08:38:20 · answer #5 · answered by aboukir200 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well since Fear is nothing more then mis-direction attention, like you say in your examples, being afraid of what could happen, then perhaps you are right.
2007-09-19 10:40:31 · answer #6 · answered by April First 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that's the way it is...cuzz we know the odds ...we know we can't fly so it is normal to have fear of flying cuz you u'll be dead...etc...so fear most of the times is for the unknown we might not have flown before but we have a picture in our mind an d we know we can't make it......
2007-09-19 09:08:40 · answer #7 · answered by joanna s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Stated another way, fear is the absence of faith, just as cold is the absence of heat.
2007-09-20 04:49:27 · answer #8 · answered by tornwax 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Simply put, fear is the instinct where we are afraid of pain or death.
2007-09-19 08:35:24 · answer #9 · answered by Coin 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
fear is and only is a lack of understanding
2007-09-19 23:22:46 · answer #10 · answered by finn mchuil 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋