Primeval Fear

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Primeval fear is the children's fear, of being alone, monsters under the cupboard who hunt us
in the night. This fear is most obvious when we are children because it is then that we know
little about the true world (we are at our most ignorant) and so we often use our imagination to embroider
the truth and do not yet know how to suppress such fears. When we grow up we can sleep with the light off and our
limbs over the edge of the bed because we can tell ourselves that it is all in the mind and so it is a (simple) matter
of logic over emotions to conquer that which terrifies us. Imagine however what it would have been like two thousand, one
thousand or even five hundred years ago, little communication and the world largely still unexplored. Imagine if you lived
in a small community deep in the heart of a forest with only oil lamps and candles to light the darkness. What new terrors
and unknown dangers could be imagined in the shadows?

Back then the world was filled with superstition and horror.
Fears were often embroidered and made real by personal stories (See Ghosts , Phantom hounds and Vampires), institutions such as the church (See
Hell
), literature and art around at the time. However art and literature would not have
had as great an influence until the printing presses came into wide use in the 15th century and even then many people
were still illiterate.

Look at any map produced round the middle ages and you can see the various monsters and demons that were said to
roam the waters and lands. Stories like Gulliver's travels and Homer's Odyssey picked up on these feelings. When
you look at old paintings tense, horrific or just plain dangerous situations are often depicted in candlelight. This effect
is known as chiaroscuro and famous examples of this can be seen in Caravaggio, Greuze and Rembrandt's
work. This not only creates dramatic lighting effects but also cloaks the subjects adding to the mystery and the sense of
the unknown. This fear is a part of us we all have it within us so why is it there?

Perhaps the simplest solution is that we fear what we do not know. This, undoubtedly would have saved many
human lives in the past. We can see this behaviour in other animals who, when confronted with a new animal
scamper away, freeze or approach with extreme caution. This is most commonly known as the fight
or flight syndrome. Our fear protects us from what could potentially damage us.
This has the handy use of preserving the species.

As the title suggests fear was an important function to protect us from creatures that prowled the
earth (Particularly at night). When, to survive we needed to be back in our
dwellings before nightfall because our senses were less alert and therefore we were at greater
risk of being killed by one of the larger predators that roamed the world. Until very recently man has
lived in a primitive state, so we have carried with us many of the fears from that old age. But can we learn to conquer our
fears and face up to them?

Many people strive to do just that, we may grow out of our fear of the dark but no matter how hard we try there is always
something deep down that nags at us when we are confronted by our fears. We can say that we have conquered our fear of
heights but it is only on the surface. Deep down we know that if a swarm of spiders were to race
round the corner of the street we would go to pieces. Personally if I were set down in a darkened abyss of passages it would
not be long before my imagination got the better of me. Does this mean we will always have our fears?

Fear seems to be an
important preservation device therefore if we (could) lose our fears we would run the risk of getting too comfy in our routines
and taking life for granted. These reasons alone would be cause for concern but as well as that they would lessen our chances
of survival if anything new and threatening should ever come our way.

See also The Physiology of Fear and Talking point: What are
you scared of


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