I have been wondering lately, what defines true fear? Is it something that gets our hearts pounding? Is it something that keeps us from sleeping at night? Or is it defined as something greater than that? And is fear truly a sin or an instinct for survival?

Also, is there a difference between being surprised/startled and being afraid? What can cause one to be afraid and express fear?

There are probably several kinds of fear. People are afraid of going into battle and getting killed, but people are also afraid of things with out any reason (like phobias ).

But they have reasons! Staircases might be scary because you can fall down them.

Yeees...but people don't usually, and they don't usually get hurt too much if they do, so if they were completely rational they wouldn't be morbidly afraid of being near a staircase, if you know what I mean?

Well, sure, but they still have a reason. : obstinate:

Pardon for being ambiguous...they have a reason, but the fear is not rational nevertheless. * makes face *

Heh. I almost killed myself yesterday by walking down stairs with heels.

That makes more sense.


Well, I'm glad you didn't.

So phobias are irrational or overdoses of fear pretty much? I mean, that's what I've always thought of them as...
But then what is real fear? It'd be less than a phobia and more than simple startlement. Probably what you'd feel if a wild grizzly roared and charged you, or if you were alone in the woods with a broken arm and wolves were stalking you...a rational logical "fear" that your life is in danger, acknowledgment that something is going to "get" you unless you do something. Does that sound accurate or does it make absolutely no sense or something in between? (of course this example is simple and pertains only to survival situations so I'm not trying to completely encapsulate the term or anything...but thinking out loud).

I think that what you're trying to say is spot on Wolfie. The body reacts to things that will endanger our existence.

But there is also a fear that I want to delve into here, the fear of being disclosed from society. Nothing is going to 'get' us as Wolf described, but something nags at us when we present to other people. How does fear operate with our social lives?

I think fear is an expectation of something bad happening, and in that case speaking in public or talking to people could be fearful because the people might dislike what you have to say, or you, or be scornful of you; and to many people that would be something very, very painful.