F E A R

FEAR! One of those four letter words that terrorize the human animal from cradle to tomb! From artists to scientists, from politicians to spiritualists, from little children to brave soldiers, many have discussed, glorified, condemned it. Many have spent a lifetime attempting to conquer it. Others have lost their entire life conquered by it. 

The strength of fear lies in its ability to control a wide range of human emotions and behavior, some of which being the very feelings upon which we build our entire lives. Behind an intense and selfless love of someone we adore, there is a fear of loosing them. At the root of a perpetual struggle for success, a 'better' life, career advancement, there lies a fear of 'failure' or demotion to a 'looser' status, at least as defined by society. Behind every action, there is a fear of grave consequences of inaction. Likewise, fear of an inappropriate action justifies a great deal of inactions. 

Alright, perhaps that sounds like a pessimistic view of the world. Yet, the strong connection between fear and most of our affairs remains visibly present. Here, one can argue about a chicken and egg phenomenon, whether fear drives our lives or is a significant byproduct of the struggle between aspirations of life and the supremely powerfull free-will of the universe. Either way, that fear produces a significant impact on the values, purpose, goals of our lives is undeniable.

Now, what is most interesting for me is what life would be like if one can completely remove the element of fear out of the equation. What would love be like if one has no fear whatsoever of loosing the person they love (death included)? What would the workplace be like if there was no fear of loosing one's job? And related to that, what would career choices be like? What would world economics be like if there was no fear of becoming poor? What would world politics and warfare be like if there was no fear of one group of people destroying others? What would the world really be like if there was no fear whatsoever? Would there still be wars? Unhappy families? Or families, for that matter? Poverty? Racism? Probably yes, probably not. But what one can speak for certain is that all these facts of life would, if they exist in the complete absence of fear, take a form quite different from what we have known.

From a very basic evolutionary biology point of view, fear is a mere survival strategy. An organism exhibits fear when encountered with a situation that threatens its existence. A creature in a state of fear displays the typical 'fight or flight' response. All that matters for a fearful organism is its continued survival, no matter why or how. In a way, fear hijacks the body and mind of the organism to do all in its power to avoid or conquer that which causes the fear. We humans are no different in this aspect. Interestingly, most of what we fear does not directly relate to our basic survival. As a matter of fact, most agents of our fear are only remotly related to our basic survival, as we know it. Yet, the way we respond to fear draws a great deal of similarity, if not identity, to the basic fear response - namely, dedicating a great deal of resources to avoid or conqure the agent of fear. Despite our possession of a highly evolved faculty delivering abstract thinking, advanced logic, complex problem solving skills, morality, spirituality, and rationality, we choose to act in some of the most primitive, ineffective, inefficient, near-sighted, and generally stupid ways when faced with fear. 

So, what would life be like if we were to completely remove this powerful variable called 'Fear' out of life? Would we be able to finally utilize our amazing mental faculty to the fullest, as individuals and a species? Would we finally be able to bring an end to greed, war, scarcity, and all the greater evils this species has lived with since its inception? Would we be able to turn the planet to a Utopia? Or would we succumb to extinction due to a mere lack of motivation, purpose, goal, or some other fear-powered motor of life? Or perhaps out of simple laziness? Either way, that would be an interesting outcome.

Coming back to how fear recklessly drives our everyday affairs, one can not help but ponder as to what blinds a highly evolved, rather smart creature, such as the human being, from unraveling the absence of meaningful connection between an illusive agent of fear, it's extrapolated consequence to one's existence, and the magnitude of response that the fear triggers. I do not wish to end my essay with the simplest explanation. So I pass the thinking on to you.