Just the idea of how much "fear" controls us is scary...

Hi John: Thanks for the Dan Ariely video recommendation. I hadn't heard of him. I just caught the first few minutes and look forward to seeing the rest. Its very intriguing. Its funny to think how the generation of fear takes place at such a deep unconscious level and has such a profound effect on us.

I do think there is a cultural phenomenon that is increasingly taking hold as we are bombarded by media reports that focus heavily on negative news and things that may threaten us, creating more terror that we continually repress and dissociate from. Plus, it only adds to the illusion your alluded to, of how improbably fears are what affect us most. As the French philosopher Paul Valery said, "We hope vaguely, but dread precisely."

I also recently came across an article about a woman who had a rare brain condition that rendered her incapable of feeling fear:http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/fear-brain-amygdala/. That doesn't seem like such a good thing either. Fear--and the resulting action it causes us to take in the face of those very real dangers--obviously plays a big part in allowing us to survive and evolve to what we are today. Wonder what the world would be like if we all felt no fear?...or if we all get completely consumed by it...

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Asheville Jung Center December 28, 2010 at 9:40pm

Thank you for pointing out this article Bonnie; it is unsettling to see the extent to which fear defines our experience. I recently attended a talk by Dan Ariely which focused on the sometimes subtle influence of fear on our decision making processproposes an explanation for a phenomena many have observed: that our most improbable fears impact our decisions substantially, but often realistic fears are ignored. An example would be the cigarette smoker drinking bottled water. I couldn't find that talk online, but Ariely covers some of the same topics in this talk on decision making:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj-w1mgLX9o

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- Bonnie Bright > Asheville Jung Center December 29, 2010 at 4:53am
  
  Hi John: Thanks for the Dan Ariely video recommendation. I hadn't heard of him. I just caught the first few minutes and look forward to seeing the rest. Its very intriguing. Its funny to think how the generation of fear takes place at such a deep unconscious level and has such a profound effect on us.
  
  I do think there is a cultural phenomenon that is increasingly taking hold as we are bombarded by media reports that focus heavily on negative news and things that may threaten us, creating more terror that we continually repress and dissociate from. Plus, it only adds to the illusion your alluded to, of how improbably fears are what affect us most. As the French philosopher Paul Valery said, "We hope vaguely, but dread precisely."
  
  I also recently came across an article about a woman who had a rare brain condition that rendered her incapable of feeling fear:http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/12/fear-brain-amygdala/. That doesn't seem like such a good thing either. Fear--and the resulting action it causes us to take in the face of those very real dangers--obviously plays a big part in allowing us to survive and evolve to what we are today. Wonder what the world would be like if we all felt no fear?...or if we all get completely consumed by it...

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