I'm working on a little project about the logic of fear. I'd say that, on the whole, this is a pretty logical group of people, so I'd be really interested to hear what you're afraid of.<p>It could be a full-on phobia or just a nagging, uncomfortable feeling that you get when something crosses your mind.<p>If you don't have it in your profile, a little blurb about what you do would also be appreciated, but not totally necessary.<p>Thanks.<p>Edit: Also, what, if any steps have you taken to confront/overcome said fear.
I really hate confrontations, to the point where it might be called fear.<p>For instance, a friend of my neighbor was considering buying my old 240sx. It's got a JDM RB20 but doesn't start, so I let him take it to a mechanic to diagnose it and complete our negotiation with more information.<p>After a few regular status updates, I haven't heard from him in a weeks. I keep putting off calling him about it.<p>My other fear is of cessation of consciousness; sort of an extrapolated fear of death. I really don't want to die; I don't quite like the idea of cryonics even if I'm revivable; I don't even really like general anaesthesia. If the brain processes that make me aware I'm me go away, where am I?
Im scared of spiders. Less so now (simply through will power) but anything beyond a house spider will give me chills (and I cant look at tarantulas on screen). No other bugs though: which seems illogical to me.<p>I also get that clutching, tight-chested thing when I think about my death (in the old-age future rather than in the now). Conversely when in an immediately dangerous situation (either physically or mentally) I find it exhilarating: the potential of "death" in those situations is exciting.<p>What kind of fear are you interested in though? The most interesting clash of fear/logic for me is travel. People will jump in a car without a seconds thought but conversely are uncomfortable in aeroplanes. Despite the latter being leaps and bounds safer than road travel. Gut overrules the logic in Head and decides being up at 20,000 feet is "NOT SAFE" :)
spiders, centipedes and pretty much most bugs bigger than an ant, had trouble killing them even with a paper towel. Hell used to get afraid looking at them in pictures.<p>To overcome it, I built a "weapon" to kill them with. Pretty much took one of those post office poster rolls, and attached some paper towels to it. This way I could kill them at a distance.<p>Now, have no problem getting upclose and personal and killing them with a paper towel. Can now watch them online without any problems(i.e. one of those giant centipedes eating a rabbit)<p>I dunno if it's something I overcame on my own, or if its something I just grew into. i.e. I used to be scared shitless of the Alien and the Predator movies, and now I more or less consider the series as an action movie, instead of a horror flick.
Death.
Walking up to a girl and asking her out.
Failure.
That the economy will get worse.
New social situations.
Spiders.<p>I've recognized each fear and I know how to handle myself to confront those fears. They don't dominate me, but they are still present.<p>I am an Oracle DBA.
I'm afraid of not having enough money in my savings account should I need to use it. I'm a college student with a part time job, and I have some money in savings, but if my car's transmission went out, I'm hosed. I have no idea how I would fix my car and keep paying for rent/utilities/food without going into debt.<p>I guess you could say I'm afraid of going into debt and not being able to get out of it because of circumstances just out of my control.
I'm afraid of socializing. I'm in the process of social skydiving to over come it and I'm blogging about it publicly to keep me honest and motivated.<p>This is the blog in case you want more info:
<a href="http://socialskydivingwithjustin.posterous.com/" rel="nofollow">http://socialskydivingwithjustin.posterous.com/</a>
Too late to edit, but I realized I should be prepared to provide a comparably personal answer to such a personal question, and I've done so on my blog, if you're interested: <a href="http://mohrslaws.blogspot.com/2009/07/fear.html" rel="nofollow">http://mohrslaws.blogspot.com/2009/07/fear.html</a>
What if I come into a situation where I have to choose between 'going with the flow' or staying a decent person, and I know if I stay up for the good they will kill me or worse torture me? Will I be strong enough? And if yes: what a life.<p>These days you can easily get picked by the CIA for some stupid reason. Actually I am a bit uneasy about US-customs for that reason.