Why Is Fear So Scary?

The Art of Ontological Learning:
Why Is Fear So Scary?

A Newfield News Article by Dan Newby

Fear is without doubt one of the most common moods and emotions humans experience. It is by blind habit considered one of the “bad” emotions. Fear lives in the neighborhood of anxiety and worry and keeps company with anger, greed, and jealousy. It is rare to find anyone who embraces fear or sees it as a valuable emotion. But what is fear?

Fear always points to something in the future. Even if it is fear of something that could happen in the next second, it is nonetheless in the future. The message of fear is: “Watch out for x because it may harm you in some way.” Our fear is without doubt informed by past experiences, but the fear itself comes from the anticipation that the unpleasant event might occur again in the future.

But why is it scary? The simple answer is that fear is scary because that is what it is supposed to be. The scary bit is what gets our attention. Its role in the emotional palette is to force us to take a look at what aspects of the future may pose danger to us, to orient us where harm may come from.

Without the scary part, we would not have a sense of urgency. Instead of being taken by the scary nature of fear, it might be more useful to ask what the fear is pointing to. If we address that, it will keep us from harm. In the end, fear could be seen as a friend (or at least a helpful acquaintance) rather than one of the gang of “bad” emotions we generally consign it to.

I think FDR was onto this idea when in his first inaugural address he said, “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

Dan leads in Newfield Network's Foundations Course and Coach Training Program, which begin October 20, 2011, in Boulder, Colorado.