Fear is an emotional response to various situations that people experience in their lives. Just like any other emotion felt by a person, fear and apprehension are normal and natural to occur. However, to experience fear upon coming across a new venture or trying something for the first time is pretty natural to people nowadays. It might be common to anyone who is going to try something new in life, to have a certain apprehension about it. A feeling of reluctance and hesitation kicks in which makes a great room for fear. People will experience fear because of many reasons however the most common reason is the fear of the outcome of the new venture which makes them flinch before accepting it. Whereas familiar situations are more comfortable to adjust with, unfamiliar situations make a person have negative thoughts about the expectation of the outcome. This makes people experience fear in situations new to them.
Fear is basically a response to a situation or confrontation with a situation which is either threatening or frightening to an individual. A person would suddenly feel uncomfortable and unsure when faced with a situation they are new to or if the situation is not pleasing to them. Fear is felt by everyone, even those who are reckoned as strong and resilient (Dachis). It is a natural phenomenon, and it makes people become more cautious and conscious of themselves. Today, people are highly conscious of their situations and experiences because of the fear associated with new things. When this thought comes to mind, people like to step back and dissociate themselves from anything new and emotionally challenging. Fear and apprehensions are the basic most emotions experienced when a person is beginning to try something new. For example, learning to drive a car or going for a job interview or perhaps even getting married. These are the commonest situations that almost all people experience once in their lives, and before they set off on these, their first reaction is always fear. The reason is that these are new to all, and any person who has not experienced this at least once in their lives will definitely have their apprehensions and feel afraid of pursuing these new experiences any further.
The reasons are not present in the experiences themselves rather they lie in the expectations and the outcomes of the situations themselves. For example, driving might be enjoyable to many, but others might be afraid because there are accidents associated with driving. A person who is by nature shy and feels afraid at new experiences will get cold feet at the start and might not be able to concentrate well. On the other hand, another person who is much more confident and sure of themselves will have less difficulty in concentrating and learning efficiently. However, both the individuals will have their apprehensions at the start and feel a little out of their wits before embracing their experience. The introvert or shy one will be fearful of the fact that they might hit the car and have an accident, whereas the most confident one would feel that might ruin their impression in front of others if they are unable to perform well. While the reasons for being afraid would differ from one person to another, the emotion of fear is valid and persistent for everyone (Dachis).
Fear is mostly experienced because of a negative outcome. Many things in life which have been experienced by other people have had negative results. For example, marriage is something which does not work out well for every person. While some people have happily married lives, others usually end up divorced (Dachis).
This is the reason why many people are afraid of getting married. This is also the reason why many people delay their marriage for a long time for no other reason other than the outcome of marriage. It is a fear of unfulfilled and false expectations associated with marriage which causes a person to fear it (Lickerman).
People today are full of apprehensions and are afraid to pursue anything new. The reason behind it is that the world is adamant on giving negative remarks to other and the negative feedback is the reason why people are fearful of anything new coming their way. In the olden days, people were braver and more daring. The reason why they were able to progress ahead and do new things is because they did not fear the outcome. It is true that they might not even know about the outcome of the situation which is why they did not fear it but today, with a more complicated way of life, people tend to be more selfish and cautious about their lives. This is why whenever a new thing springs up, apprehensions and doubts take over a person (Lickerman).
Apart from the immaterial kind of fear that people will experience, there are the other forms of fear that people experience in their day to day life. This can be explained with the analogy of stepping into the dark. A person will always feel afraid before going into the dark. This is because of the inability to tell what awaits them ahead. Even a grown-up would feel afraid of the dark as there is no telling what lies ahead, in the form of danger or anything unsafe for them. It makes a person feel unsafe because their life gets in the way of the fear and they want to be sure that the darkness has nothing in it for them. However, the reason why the apprehension over darkness is faced is because of the fear of any physical harm (Sepassi). People do not want to get injured or get hurt at anything they are unsure of, and that makes them fear anything they cannot see beyond.
Apart from the physical damage, there is the fear of their ego getting hurt. The world today runs on a super-enlarged ego which keeps people on their toes and makes them feel actually good about themselves. Keeping high expectations of what others think about them and people close to them keep approving of their behavior and work is what sustains a healthy ego. However damaging the ego is one thing no person wants to face. And once that ego is bruised, they feel they will lose everything that is in their approach once and for all. For example, narrating the story of Christopher John Francis Boone from The Curious incident of the dog in the night time, he is born to parents who keep him in the dark, and he has to lead a life of deceit for quite some time. His mother leaves him fearing that disclosing her unfaithfulness to her son might make her lose him forever (Haddon).Similarly, the father hides all the letters that she has been writing to her son ever since she left them and he fears that if his son comes to know of things, he might lose him too. Moreover, his ego is reluctant to let go of the fact that he is going to prove himself as the better parent and keep his son safe. The fear of telling his son about the truth is an outcome of the unexpected response he fears that will elicit from his son. This is fulfilled in the form of Christopher leaving him as soon as the truth unravels before him and he goes to London to live with his mother (Haddon).
Thus, in such cases where there is an apprehension of a disaster eminent in the future, the harm to one’s ego is a great factor in producing the fear and making people reluctant to take bold steps, doing things extraordinarily. In the present world, most of the fears revolve around the way people think and make decisions revolves around the idea of something harming or boosting their ego. Many things present externally might not be as harming as those which are built up by the human mind about what can possibly go wrong if certain incorrect measures are taken mistakenly.
A common example is when people fear they are going to lose their money if they start a new business or invest with somebody they do not know well enough. The harm here will be that of the ego and self-image which will emerge to the world if they lose their money through their incompetence and inability to judge others correctly. Therefore, this brings fear into their minds when it comes to trusting others on something they are unfamiliar with or are unaware of the outcome of (Sepassi).
Another fear that is present at the back of this is the fear of failure and disappointment. Everyone wants to remain on their winning streak all the time, and he or she only do so by getting their hands into things they are completely comfortable with. Failure is the utmost phenomenon they are afraid of confronting. When a person is sure of failure as the one thing that is bound to happen every time they are about to begin something new, then nothing can be achieved. For example, if a person believes they are going to fail for sure if they write a novel, then with this perception in mind, they might not even get into starting to write one, no matter how great a writer they might be. Apprehensions are present naturally, but fear of failure comes as a barrier to trying anything new and daring in life. Many people in the present world are subject to this as a result of their ego as well, which will be significantly bruised if they allow themselves to do something and fail at it. The problem in today’s society is the inability to accept things which might be different and new to people and relying too much on what other people feel about a certain experience and what views they have sustained (Sepassi).
What is more important to realize is that failure is even possible with something that a person is familiar with, and it might happen to anyone. There are other solutions that can be considered if a person really wants to push ahead and succeed rather than simply sticking to the
safe side all the time. For instance, if there is a reason to be afraid of failure, then there can always be a way to correct and ameliorate that failure and work again and again upon it. There is no such thing as a sure thing, and guarantees are not associated with everything that a person does. Therefore, taking a chance can actually be a great step towards learning and improving one’s abilities and strengths.
Then there is the fear of some kind of material harm coming one’s way which is why people fear facing unfamiliar things. For example, if a friend asks for a loan for some cash, the first thought coming into a person’s mind would be that the money will never be returned. It is the love for the material world and material things which is mainly responsible for the fear that is ingrained in people. Ironically, in the present day, people value money and material things over friendships and relations which is why the first fear coming to their minds is about their money, and their friendship is present nowhere in their apprehensions. They would rather let their friendship get weaker than losing a couple of dollars for their friend to helping them. This is one of the many examples where people come across a situation of lending or borrowing and become unsure of what to expect after they have done the deed.
In the previous times, people helped more generously without thinking of the consequences. In a case such as lending money, what people forget is that money can always be earned back. It does not take long to make the same amount of money as they had lent to a friend out of the goodness of their heart. In the present generation, relationships have taken a more materialistic turn. This is why fear overcomes people in such situations.
Furthermore, there needs to be a balance between how people think and that balance is completely upset. For example, when sustaining a thought about being a failure, people often
have other thoughts such as their spouse hating them or leaving them. Or that if they fulfill a wish their friend has asked for, then their family might get upset with them. Being unable to decide which side to please and put first, becomes one of the many reasons why people become afraid of new and unexpected things. In the past people were not very keen on asking permission for the littlest of things (Sepassi). Even the children of the former times were bolder and more independent which is why they did things without asking their parents and did not care about the consequences.
Looking at a historical aspect of the situation, people in the past have always been gauged on their success for factors like their effectiveness in survival, their hunting and food gathering, and reproductive abilities. Today, however, the mindset has changed, and the measures for success are taken as good grades in school, coming from a prestigious family, having more wealth and influence and having good looks from among the other people. These expectations are what make people more conscious about themselves, and there is nothing they can see beyond these boundaries. This might also be the reason why fear becomes a reoccurring phenomenon because the minds of individuals are packed into the same set of ideals which cannot flinch and change at any cost.
Apart from seeing new opportunities and decisions as a way of learning and exploring one’s self, the world today feels that new opportunities might take their strengths away. There is a fear of loss and fear of rejection from their selected social circle if they venture and do things beyond what is though doable of them.
Moreover, people today are conditioned to fear new things because it is the parents that teach them these apprehensions themselves. If a mother responds to something with fear and
lack of approval, then the child is bound to take the effect and produce the same reaction when he grows up and faces a similar situation (Dachis). When parents become the risk-takers and are less afraid of trying new things, then children will be daring as well. However with the overly cautious present generation of parents and offsprings, it is less likely for them to be willing to accept new things readily. This is why psychologists have said that although anxiety is a feeling that is present in the human psyche, it is still an emotion that is more commonly experienced when a person is closely made to experience it with a loved one telling them how it feels. Thus, anxiety can be inherited by observation as well (Dachis).
Today, the world is afraid of change and is not willing to embrace newness. The generation today is dependent on technology and their computers, laptops and Smartphones which is where they remain cozy and safe. When someone tries to pry them out of this routine and experience, he or she feel afraid and fretted. Fear also arises because of the reliance on technology and the inability to move away from these.
Another thing that instills fear in people is change. People are afraid of change and newness. Fear of adjustment and moving on to new things is what creates anxiety amongst people. Events like the death of a person or getting married to someone or moving to a different country is something that creates alarm in people (Lickerman). Making adjustments is also something that causes stress in people and makes them worry about the fact whether they might be able to adjust or not. Some people even get scared to the extent they flee from change and do not wish to get involved with the unfamiliar situation with them. The change means that there will be a modification to the person’s environment, surroundings, emotional conditions and mental state of mind.
A prominent change in the present day society is that people are unwilling to change themselves and adapt to new situations. This becomes the main reason why every little change brings apprehensions to mind. When a person knows that there needs to be a balance maintained between negative and positive, then it is easier to adapt to change and become more accepting of newer situations. According to a rational point of view, the change should be simple and easy (Lickerman). However, it is not. It is nature as well as nurture that prepare a person’s brain to accept or reject change and newness. When people are used to living according to a certain set of beliefs and principles for some period of time, then they find it very difficult to change their perceptions about things very quickly. As they say ‘you cannot teach an old dog new tricks,’ similarly, it is difficult to teach people about change and adaptation when they are stuck to older belief systems.
Taking Christopher’s example from The Curious incident of the dog in the night time, he is one person in the entire neighborhood who is curious and concerned about what happened to the poodle who got murdered so ruthlessly. This happens because Christopher has grown up with a mild condition of autism which makes him a little different from the people in his surroundings. While other people are more concerned about what the society would think of them if they were searching for a dog. Moreover, the death of the dog was an unfamiliar incident that they had come across, and they were unwilling to do anything about it (Haddon). But Christopher, who was bold enough to take a stand and do what others were too afraid to do, made the call and set on an aim. Also, people today are unbothered about new information and new knowledge. What is presented to them through the ideas of those they are surrounded with makes them feel secure and content.
Christopher, being an autistic child, thought of socialization and the need of relying on others for ideas and help, made it an aim to differentiate himself from the rest by doing what the society considered inappropriate. This means that the entire society is conditioned today to operate on the same levels of thinking and mentality without considering what is better for them or worse, and the outcome is never an important factor they need to think of (Haddon).
In conclusion, it can be said that the world today is fearful of trying new and unfamiliar things because of various factors such as a fear of failure, fear of loss and rejection and a fear of change. With the modernization of society, people have become more concerned with what others think of them and what perception society hold about them. Moreover, the materialistic society of today’s world is more concerned with material things such as money, influence, and prestige rather than friendships and relations. This makes them more worried when a request is asked of them, and they have to decline because they are afraid of the consequences. In the light of this, it can be said that people today are worried about change because change is imperceptible and something that goes against their ingrained beliefs. This restricts them from further action and adaptation to change.
However, change is good and adapting to it is healthy because it opens up a person’s mind and heart and lets the new experiences create a better person out of a human. It also teaches new things and perhaps opens up opportunities that were absent in the first place. Society needs to mold itself into a more flexible and easy-to-adapt entity so that living in the world is made easier and people can cope with various changes coming their way.
Work Cited
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Haddon, Mark. The Curious incident of the dog in the night time. Sparknotes. N.d Web. 19 May,
2016.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/the-curious-incident-of-the-dog-in-the-night-
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Lickerman, Alex. Trying new things. Psychology Today. 2010. Web. 19 May 2016.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201004/trying-new-things
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https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-feel-fear-while-trying-out-new-things
