Jump to content

...


Lord Jade Cross

Recommended Posts

Prufrock, but like, worse

Racism.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I believe that we fear the dark because of evolution. Because our eyes are not able to see clearly in the dark, it is the most likely time that our early ancestors would die(because they wouldn't have seen anything.) And, due to this, our brains most likely evolved to know that it means bad things.

(just a guess though)

Link to post
Share on other sites

I gotta say I still am a little scared of the dark. (Oddly enough I like to be awake at night.) I think it's just because there could be anything in the dark. It's the fact that I can't see well. I'm always scared when I'm not completely aware of all my surroundings, though that might be linked to my social anxiety. Like when I'm somewhere with people I have to constantly look around to be sure who is there and where exactly they are. 

I got off topic... Anyway, for me personally being able to see everything around me is just really important. I guess I kinda just want to be ready in case someone tries to attack? I don't know, this probably doesn't really explain anything. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Well, think of what happens in the dark if you lived outside. Nocturnal predators show up. And loads of them. Like our fear of spiders or snakes, I think it's probably evolutionary with a bit of cultural influence thrown in. For instance, rats and mice weren't as heavily detested until the days of the black plague arrived. We may have always had that lingering need to shy away from rodents, but it wasn't until the hysteria the plague brought that our fear of their disease carrying capabilites was magnified, and carried on through culture and history. You know sneezing? The "achoo" sound people make is actually a learned cultural habit rather than anything to do with the reflex of sneezing itself.

 

So I think our deal with the dark is a bit of both. Evolution taught us that animals were dickheads at night, culture carried stories and myths of animals and things being dickheads at night.

Link to post
Share on other sites
LadyWallflower

I actually like the dark. One of my eyes is mostly blind, and has a problem that makes it extremely sensitive to light. So the sun can be painful. Also, since living in a homogeneous community I have become afraid of being outside during the day, and get real anxiety if I'm doing errands during the day. I feel safer at night, where I can imagine no one can see me. I absolutely despise my appearance.

Link to post
Share on other sites
RoseGoesToYale

I think it's a combination of nature and nurture. Humans generally lack any sort of biological advantages for darkness, unlike cats with superior night vision or bats with echolocation. When humans are in the dark, we can't see squat (unless you do that old pirate trick where you cover one eye so your pupil grows to the size of a grapefruit, but that's another story), so we can't orient ourselves visually, spatially, or with depth perception. Lack of these make us vulnerable to injury, death, attacks, etc. But we are also taught from a young age and through multiple channels that darkness is dangerous and should be avoided, e.g. parents forbidding children to go out at night, or horror movies showing all manner of terrifying creatures hiding in the dark. Just the same, humans can learn to not fear the dark, but doing so means finding ways to shed our human vulnerabilities in darkness.

 

The only times I fear the dark are when I'm indoors and in Florida, because I know cockroaches could be lurking in it here. Those damn demons thrive in it. If I know there's a reasonable threat to expect from the darkness, only then I'll avoid it.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree with a previous poster about the evolution thing. We all know that kids look to adults for how to react so I imagine how easy it is for every kid to have an irrational fear of the dark if their parents were to show even a small bit of their own lingering fears to be the last weight on top of a kid's reasoning process. We're obviously weary in the dark but I don't think it's the same as a fear. Fears like how phobic we are of the dark are built up by us because it's saturated in cultures like horror films and thrillers where it's not just an evolutionary benefit of knowing that there could be something hiding to be weary of, but that there always is and it's a supernatural (possibly undead) entity with 6 heads that's going to eat us if we don't run. That's completely learned and completely irrational, but the reason behind why we would be more weary goes along with how we're not equipped for it like we are for day-life, and our species would natural fall prey to animals that are equipped to hunt at night. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

I'd say it's nurture over nature. Humans have reasonable night vision and hearing, it's just we don't practice using them. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

The fear of the dark is simply the fear of the unknown. Many things are linked to the fear of the unknown. Maybe we are taught to fear the unknown? Or maybe it’s simply in us to fear what we don’t know and therefore be cautious of our surroundings. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

There's a reason why the origin of fire looms so large in human mythology. Fire drives the dark back, gives not only light but warmth in the winter, cooks our food, etc. Fear of the dark reaches back into time when humans were still vulnerable to bigger predators. Going into a dark cave without light? Cave bear or snakes anyone? I do think that one can over come the fear of the dark, but it's an instinctive thing to fear, because you never know what's out there - a snake, blackwidow spider, legos, you name it ... ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, fuzzipueo said:

There's a reason why the origin of fire looms so large in human mythology. Fire drives the dark back, gives not only light but warmth in the winter, cooks our food, etc. Fear of the dark reaches back into time when humans were still vulnerable to bigger predators. Going into a dark cave without light? Cave bear or snakes anyone? I do think that one can over come the fear of the dark, but it's an instinctive thing to fear, because you never know what's out there - a snake, blackwidow spider, legos, you name it ... ;)

 

The hairs on the back of my neck tingled as I stepped into the darkened room, unable to see, I fumbled blindly forwards until my heart skipped a beat. Something brushed against my foot for just a moment, and I froze. Breath caught in my throat, frozen. I willed myself to move, with a caution so great that it felt like I would be trapped in this dark room forever as my muscles strained with the controlled effort of a master. But too late was I to realize that I had stepped into a trap, and it was only after I felt the plastic corners of the hellspawn that waited for me in this darkness dig and sting into my vulnerable bare flesh that I knew I was done for. With a scream that fell on deaf ears, I fell forwards into darkness, paralyzed from the brick's potent sting, only to be consumed by the ravenous pack of plastic bricks that lay in wait ahead, ready to pounce after their apex hunter sprung the trap.

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 22.4.2018 at 4:07 PM, Skycaptain said:

I'd say it's nurture over nature. Humans have reasonable night vision and hearing, it's just we don't practice using them. 

Humans do not have reasonable night vision. You can see conturs better, but it isn't "reasonable". If it were that we wouldn't use lights or, ironically, night vision to replace our poor vision during night. It isn't a matter of training either, it is natural. If you're outside during the dark (it is absent of light and it is much darker than walking down a normal road in the dark) the eyes will adjust naturally over time, and it will reset  again if exposed to light (e.g. flashlight) but it won't be "reasonable". You'll only see somewhat better and contours a little better, but you will in no way see good and it isn't practical as you lack color, details, depth, it's very blurry and grainy and you can barely see what is in front of you. 

 

But we're afraid of darkness since we can't orientate ourself. That means we can trip more easy, i.e dying in the cave man world. We can get seperated from home. It is actually worse climate for us. And lastly as we see not reasonable we can't see predators coming in and have a harder way of escaping or fighting back. Then add to the already hightened paranoia in darkness, the human brain make up animals, monsters and humans (bad ones) in the shades and contours you see due to the very poor vision and the alert state of the brain. Humans are day animals as reflected by our natural, not nurtured, fear of darkness, that our biological clock want us to sleep at night, that we need the sun basically and that our senses are attuned for the day and not the night. 

 

https://www.medicaldaily.com/why-were-afraid-dark-evolutionary-and-rational-impulse-protect-ourselves-329414

Link to post
Share on other sites
Ace of Mind

Vashta Nerada, anyone?

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
ôÿē èîęēú ïė ēôēįîûôø
On 4/22/2018 at 9:39 AM, OhDearyMe! said:

The fear of the dark is simply the fear of the unknown. Many things are linked to the fear of the unknown. Maybe we are taught to fear the unknown? Or maybe it’s simply in us to fear what we don’t know and therefore be cautious of our surroundings. 

I have a friend who fears death.

But yes, I agree. 

I think fear of the dark is psychological.

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 4/21/2018 at 7:36 PM, Jade Cross said:

I recall  some years ago, I saw a documentary which attempted to explain the reasons why humans are afraid. There wasnt any conclusive answer, just theories that ranged from fear deriving from wild animals attacks/ the unknown/ etc.

 

So whats your take? Why do think humans fear the dark?

 

 

In the wild darkness means you cant see predetors. As well as that it means you cant indentify what the threat is if there is one. So it makes sense fear of dark would be a common phobia.

Link to post
Share on other sites
On 4/26/2018 at 12:56 PM, Ace of Mind said:

Vashta Nerada, anyone?

Dang it, you got there first :P

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

I think that for most people the object of fear isn't the dark itself, but the threats it might make one vulnerable to.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...