I'll share something my mom said to me when I was scared of flying as a kid:<p>"They pilot doesn't want to die either".<p>That has more-or-less destroyed any fear I have of flying.
Ugh, I know exactly how that guy feels. I hate flying with an abiding passion (indeed, I view their 30 day trip as about as much fun as hitting myself in the nuts with a hammer over the course of a month). It is completely and totally irrational, but there's not much to be done about it. Drinking helps, some, but they don't serve drinks during takeoff, which is the worst part (I usually manage to relax a bit after about a half an hour of total panic).<p>The "can't get off" part is really important too.
People often spend a significant amount of time worrying about what tomorrow will bring and in turn negatively affect today. This is a dilemma that we all face on a regular basis. We worry about hitting our quota because if not, we will potentially lose our job; we dread an upcoming family event because we are going to be forced to spend time with a "long lost" relative; we are concerned about going on vacation because we have not kept to our diet; we worry that our start-up will not get funded and we will be forced to work at a corporate giant; we fear an upcoming airline flight and do not enjoy our vacation; and we are troubled that a loved one, (or even ourselves), is going to die because of a recent diagnosis of a terminal disease. All of these worries, dreads, concerns, and troubles lead to what I like to call "F-e-a-r"or in other words, False Evidence Appearing Real. I am sure we will agree that we often worry about future events that never turn out to be as bad as we originally thought. So in the time from the initial thought, up and until the event, we have "destroyed" a period of time that could have been significantly more enjoyable. Now there are cases that are inevitable, like the eventual death as a result of a terminal disease, but even with these occurrences, the death component is going to occur when your time is finished on earth, but the life element is up to you. Remember, F-e-a-r is only False Evidence Appearing Real.
Fear is a really interesting thing... If you can control people's fears, you pretty much control everything. Currently on display in US healthcare "debate"...
The preservation of one's own life is perhaps everybody's primary goal in life, and so there are many excellent reasons for somebody to avoid risks so that this goal is repeatedly achieved. But such a life (devoid of risk) is stagnant and hindered. I wonder if this is the difference between living and merely existing.
On the concept of control, one thing that has been effective for me in helping me get over my fear of heights it trying not to control my fear. It's sounds strange, but the more I try to control the fear the worse it gets but if I just let it come and don't get caught up in the tug of war of my anxious thoughts and feelings but force myself to carry on regardless of my thoughts or feelings (which I know to be irrational anyway) I find that the fear tends to fade on its own.
I found this about Disney World's sound more fascinating: <a href="http://30dayflight.com/day10.html" rel="nofollow">http://30dayflight.com/day10.html</a>
The other thing about flying:<p>I cannot even possibly describe to anybody who hasn't spent time in the captain's chair how good of a job the FAA and the aircraft manufacturers do planning for <i>EVERYTHING</i>.<p>You practically have to ask for clearance, then follow a checklist, when you scratch your beard.
I hate warped statistics. A probability is not "2000% lower". That would imply a -1900% chance. I suppose he meant that the probability of dying in a flight is 1/20 of in a car, although I cannot be sure.
"More than half of fliers report some level of anxiety before boarding a plane, and 5% of the population refuses to fly at all."<p>Where does this data come from?
How are they engaging people on these flights? What's the opening line? Are they recording them? I'm really interested in how they're pulling this off.
it's not irrational. it's fear off lack of control for ones live.<p>I do <i>not</i> know how to fly an airplane. I do not know the commander.<p>I <i>do</i> know how to pilot a bike. I ride a bike in heavy traffic at high speeds.<p>Despite the death rate for the bike case is higher, i crap myself on an airplane. because i'm not in control.