Fear: A Survival Mechanism

Gautama Buddha once said that whole secret of existence is to have no fear. But taking a look at history of mankind and its evolution this theory of Buddha turns out to be wrong. Have you ever wondered why we fear darkness? Reason doesn't lie in ghost but the reason is hidden in 85 million years of history of evolution of mankind. Let me tell you the reason when humans started to evolve they used to live in caves in forests and they have had a tendency to fear in dark not because of ghosts but because of wild animals that could have attacked them since humans were weakest in the wild. Since then the fear had been in genes of human and till date we fear in darkness even if there is no possibilities of wild animal attacking you these fear is often named as ghosts. Scientifically explaining fear is natural reaction of body from any potential danger. Now the question is how it has helped us in existence and survival. To explain this I will give some example about some of peculiar animal behavior. For example a simple chameleon or a garden lizard changes its color so that it can mix with nature and disguise its potential danger. This phenomenon has been developed by chameleon during course of its evolution in nature which has helped it survive in nature. This is explained by Darwin theory of evolution which explains that whatever qualities a species need to survive in nature it develop in course of time. And these qualities are never achieved without the sense of fear. But how man use his fear? Answer is again hidden in evolution in humankind. Let me give you another example. Why do you have Goosebumps? When we were in later stage of evolution our body was full of hairs and sensing any danger our body hair use to stand making us look big and quite dangerous which can drive away any potential danger. These were also a simple reaction of body when we used to fear and this habit of reaction has continued in genes of human. So humans have a quite an affect of fear in them. Its fear which have kept us alive in course of history. Fear is an ingrained trait. Fear helps us to survive, by injecting us with memories and chemicals so that we can recognize and avoid danger. Since fear "can play a direct role in life-and-death struggles, it's not surprising to find that the brain contains elaborate machinery dedicated to its routines". Upon encountering a threatening situation, a primitive organ in the brain called the amygdala sends out a distress signal. The human body flushes itself with adrenaline, pauses non-essential fun. We humans have developed so much and credit somewhere goes to fear inside us the fear of death, fear of losing and much more. Fear is not something which we shall be ashamed of. History have taught us that mechanization of human civilization have started with development of weapons which were developed by humans in fear. Fear is our best friend and ally on our path to success. A famous fight manager once said, The hero and the coward both feel exactly the same fear, only the hero confronts his fear and converts it into fire. Turing our fear into a fire to find the best possible solution to the problem is the key to success. So next time when you fear something don't feel ashamed just remember that its fear that have played a great role in our survival and our development. But remember too much fear is also not good. Up to some extent it is good but not too much. Always have courage to face your fear. And always remember one thing courage is not being fearless but courage is the name of facing your fear and overcoming it. Sayan Das Karmakar D14 (EXTC)