It is interesting to note that DEATH didn't even make the Top Ten List of things that scare people, according to the
And reviewing this list, I really wondered WHY some of these things are on the list. Do people REALLY let their minds just get the better of their emotions and so they are paralyzed with fear?
For whatever the reason, here are the Top Ten:
Fear Number 10 - Water - ok, maybe death really IS on this list, but it's masked by things people fear will kill them.
Fear Number 9 - Storms - lightning, wind, flooding
Fear Number 8 - Public Transportation - Planes, trains, buses. It can't be the pick pockets, so it again must be the fear of dying on one of these, though most of these are safer (statistically) than taking a shower in your own bathroom.
Fear Number 7 - Crowds. Well, maybe the pick pockets are part of THIS fear, but more so it's the fear of the unknown where people lose control. Pushing, trampling, the mob mentality (where the crowd just goes along for the sake of going along).
Fear Number 6 - Tunnels and bridges. Well, with the infrastructure crumbling around us, I understand this one. But I've never had my heart pick up even ONE beat per minute when going over the bridge or through a tunnel. Again, this must deal with loss of control, an unreasoned fear that something can go wrong (like water crushing the tunnel or a bridge falling down). Gee… didn't we get rid of monsters in our beds years ago?
Fear Number 5 - Spiders. Alfred Hitchcock would be so pleased! I was always the one to kill them in my house when one of the boys got anxious when there was a spider around.
Fear Number 4 - Heights. OK… so the bridge folks get two birds with one stone for this one. I do admit that going up to the fire tower in the state park as a kid seemed really scary and my stomach and heart leap just thinking about it. And it's not even so much because consciously I fear I will fall… by body just wants to react to this one.
Fear Number 3 - Confined spaces. Elevators don't bother me. And I've never feared being closed into a coffin. Sometimes the thought of one of those old MRI or CAT scan machines creeps me a bit. No rational reason - I certainly don't think it will crush me, but my heart races just a bit.
Fear Number 2 - Snakes. OK so THIS one is REAL! Too many movies, too much venom dripping from their fangs, too many stories of Harrison Ford filming Raiders of the Lost Arc. They just creep me out.
Fear Number 1 - And I totally do NOT get this one (especially since my family has been in the same local theater for FIVE generations: Public Speaking. Does this come from kindergarten when you got up to speak and someone laughed at you? Do you REALLY think you will forget everything and bullies will come to scream at you? PUBLIC SPEAKING as the number one fear? More than SNAKES or FALLING, of LIGHTNING? I don't get it.
Hope you enjoyed this list. I'm sure it got you thinking.
1 comment:
MSN:
-I only fear LARGE bodies of water (having flown over the ocean at NIGHT and landing on a small ISLAND)...and dying like those that perished during the Titanic sinking...other than that...I'm good-to-go.
- My only fear about that is that I might forget something...that's why I made up a "go-bag"...just in case of FLOODS.
-I have developed a slight fear of them, and readily avoid them...it's not the same world we live in any more, sadly. People will accost you for "chump-change".
- I don't "fear" crowds, as much as I get anxious while in them....again, there's safety in numbers...SMALLER numbers that is.
People cannot deal with panic well, and that can get YOU hurt.
-Tunnels are OK (depending on the size of them...tunnels that I can get stuck in...not good.
Bridges are fine...for now.
- I never fear spiders as long as I can SMASH them when they show up (like Garfield does). I know they're good for eating harmful insects, but they don't belong lounging on my living room wall, either.
- Heights depends on the "safety" factor...am I SECURE that I won't have a chance of falling? That makes all the difference, but I'm STILL not going to the edge of the Grand Canyon to "take a peek".
But I will scale the roof to remove overhanging tree branches.
- Claustrophobia affects a lot of people in various ways, so being confined with NO way of removing oneself DOES get a bit dicey for me.
- Snakes don't bother me...maybe that's because I RESPECT them, but should I ever find one in a sleeping bag with me...
- Public speaking used to scare the hell out of me...If you looked up the word INTROVERTED in the dictionary, they had MY PICTURE next to it...LOL
Then I took Drama classes in H/S, and got a singing LEAD in the school show. THAT cures you REAL fast!
Never looked back since.
As long as you are prepared with what you're going to speak about...there is no fear.
That was a cool list.
Thanks!
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