Fear of Being Afraid

Fear is a very powerful concept. Fear can break men down, fear can build a man's career, fear can give rise to a new nation, and fear can lead to a scene of grisly deaths. Since the dawn of time fear has been a main motivator for not just human kind but also for animals. Animals have a natural instinct that tells them to run away when they sense danger, for man there is no exception. Everyone remembers what it is like to feel fear. Some people may have been scared as children of the boogie man, others may have been traumatized by some unfortunate event but we all feel fear from time to time. Parents are certainly some of the most fearful people on the planet because they constantly worry about their children. Fear comes in many forms but like with an animalistic instinct we try to run from what makes us afraid. If we are worried about the homeless man on the corner next to a stoplight we make sure our door is locked, if we are uncomfortable with the city we live in we move, if someone breaks into your home you immediately grab a weapon to help dispel the fear. Fear is easily recognized as a powerful motivator for human behavior, and so people have begun to use fear as a means of persuasion, to make people believe or act in a way that benefits the manipulator. First we must realize that one does not even need to fear something that exists. Men can easily cause others to have a fear for something, as seen in the Little Albert experiment. Little Albert was a small child who was allowed to see undisturbed pictures of lab animals and was then allowed to play with a lab rat. At first Albert played around normally with the little white rat, until every time Albert touched the rat an assistant would smack a hammer across a metal bar behind Albert, causing the child to be frightened. After some repetitions Albert became too terrified to even go near the lab rat. The Little Albert experiment shows that fear can also be man made and it is possible to create a specific fear for anyone. Fear is also a technique that was used by the Church, such as Jonathan Edward's famous “Fire and Brimstone” sermon. In this sermon Edwards preaches that God is an angry god with contempt for humanity and that only a string separates the human race from plunging straight down into Hell. We also see religion using fear during the time of the Catholic Inquisition, where heretics were “tried” and then executed, or with the Salem Witch Trials where neighbors were accusing neighbors of being witches before they themselves were accused. These “witches” were then unjustly tried and executed. Fear is especially potent when a man is presented with an omnipotent force who's existence can not be readily identified, in this case God. Wars have been fought with God's name countless times where the enemy was God's enemy or if you fight you will be forgiven for your sins such as in the Crusades. Fear is an almost insurmountable emotion that can cause a man to do many things, and we must all recognize and face our own fears or else others may very well take advantage.