What do you fear -and- why do you fear it?

Discussion:

(too old to reply)

Pro-Humanist FREELOVER

2010-04-05 16:06:33 UTC

- - -

A list of the top 10 fears, a comment on unmentioned
fears, and a comment on the way the mind works:

- - -
What Really Scares People : Top 10 Phobias
http://www.livescience.com/culture/091023-top10-fear-1.html
- - -

10 - The Dentist
9 - Dogs
8 - Frightful flight
7 - Thunder and Lightning
6 - The Dark
5 - Harrowing Heights
4 - Other People
3 - Scary Spaces
2 - Creepy Crawlies
1 - Slithering Snakes

- - -

Prominent Unmentioned Fears:

o Fear of Death - heavily instilled in most, via instinct
and via the way most of us are raised. I, for example,
was raised in a Southern Baptist church, where fear
of death was a repeated notion mentioned in churches
I attended on a thrice weekly (sometimes daily) basis
for the first 18 years of my life.

o Fear of Hell - heavily instilled in those of us subjected
to the religious notions regarding such a place, from
the youngest of ages. Even though my fear of such
a place was a reflection of having been seduced into
believing in heaven, at the age of -8-, it was, as men-
tioned above, mentioned frequently in churches,
although hellfire and torment notions weren't men-
tioned as frequently. Perhaps, with me, even though
I found the heaven seduction appealing, I couldn't
buy into the anti-humanism and heavily mythical part
of the faith, and that fact + the exposure to the hell
threat in religions, played large roles in my mind for
decades.

All of that stuck in my mind so deep, that my night-
mares regarding such a place only ended when I finally
gave up God, like totally, as being anything other than
a myth, well into my adult years (said time occurring
about the time I started posting to newsgroups under
my real name, quite a long time ago), the alt.atheism
newsgroup being the focus of my attention for several
years.

- - -

The way the mind works, based on the totality of
stimuli and life experiences one has, including the
genetic predispositions one is born with.

The programming I was exposed to, from a very
young age, heavily within the environs of churches,
my escape was only provided by sufficient exposure
to what at the time I was raised was a predomin-
antly secular world. That, and the disease I've been
battling since age 5 (type 1 diabetes, aka Insulinitis,
see below)
http://prohuman.net/insulinitis.htm
and significant exposure to the non-church side of
the argument which only occurred when I commenced
research into that side via the tools available on the
internet, played large roles in forming the basis of my
current state of disbelief in the entirety of the supposed
so-called supernatural realm.

- - -

¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤

~~~
Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
http://prohuman.net
(Freethinking Realist Exploring
Expressive Liberty, Openness,
Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality)
~~~

Larry

2010-04-06 00:41:54 UTC

Permalink

Post by Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
What Really Scares People : Top 10 Phobias
http://www.livescience.com/culture/091023-top10-fear-1.html
- - -
10 - The Dentist
9 - Dogs
8 - Frightful flight
7 - Thunder and Lightning
6 - The Dark
5 - Harrowing Heights
4 - Other People
3 - Scary Spaces
2 - Creepy Crawlies
1 - Slithering Snakes

1 - Nuclear War. I live at ground zero to insure I will not survive to
die like the rest of you, slowly and painfully.

2 - Government Genocide imposed by the elite classes to dissolve 85% of
the planet's population WHEN, not if, the resources the elite classes
must have start to run out. "Logan's Run" was a documentary like
"1984" and "Soylent Green". They'll keep us alive as long as we serve
their purposes for us.

3 - Cataclysmic astronomical events humans cannot control. Way too much
of our remaining resources are spent trying to move the elite offplanet
and way too little is spent on NEO (Near Earth Orbit) objects that can
decimate the planet in a week, a month and cause mass uncontrollable
extinctions. As with 1 above, the solution is to be at ground zero, if
you have the time to get there. No research is done to protect this
planet, only to move an upper class off it when the resources are
depleted, leaving the rest to starve in cannibalism.

4 - Genocide of the elderly, infirmed, and prisoners. There will soon
become a time when the bankrupt society will decide that in order to
survive under the present ruling class, anyone who can no longer be of
immediate benefit to the ruling classes must be eliminated to preserve
the elite's immense wealth and control over the masses. This differs
from 2, above, in that it will occur first in a very subtle way before 2
becomes necessary. These easily victimized groups are easily poisoned
in various ways to cause their deaths without alarming the larger
population still pulling the oars of the society. Class warfare will
justify it as my generation, I'm 64 and a WW2 baby boomer, has just come
of age to burden the working classes we came from with more tax loads to
support us. They'll be sold on the idea from greed, alone.

5 - Religion induced mass murder. Humans have a long history of
genocidal wars caused by religious fantasies for thousands of years.
These religious wars are used, today, by the same elite classes as
population control (see 2 above). Religious wars are an excellent
excuse to commit mass murder of unwanted, lower classes to "cull the
herd" and enrichen the ruling classes, especially religious ruling
classes. Religious zealots force these wars in any way they can to
expand their controls over the mass populations. National Socialism was
a religion as much as a political party. New religions are afoot far
more dangerous than before because we now possess the ultimate mass
murder weaponry to commit those murders that were lacked before 1945.
Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons development never stopped
working to create a better killing machine. Nazi concentration camps
were like boy scouts to really modern military machines in killing
power. Religious Christian zealots are counting on Israeli Jews to
incite mass religious wars they fantasize will result in their sky pilot
coming back to lead them to paradise. Jews use this to get massive
funding from the US government in weapons of mass destruction, in
addition to pouring America's wealth into Israeli coffers without
question, no matter what crimes the Zionists commit....proof positive it
will happen, hopefully not in my lifetime.

Are these phobias, too?

--
"iPad is to computing what Etch-A-Sketch is to art!"

Larry

Uncle Vic

2010-04-06 15:03:38 UTC

Permalink

Post by Larry

1 - Nuclear War. I live at ground zero to insure I will not survive
to die like the rest of you, slowly and painfully.
2 - Government Genocide imposed by the elite classes to dissolve 85%
of the planet's population WHEN, not if, the resources the elite
classes must have start to run out. "Logan's Run" was a documentary
like "1984" and "Soylent Green". They'll keep us alive as long as we
serve their purposes for us.
3 - Cataclysmic astronomical events humans cannot control. Way too
much of our remaining resources are spent trying to move the elite
offplanet and way too little is spent on NEO (Near Earth Orbit)
objects that can decimate the planet in a week, a month and cause mass
uncontrollable extinctions. As with 1 above, the solution is to be at
ground zero, if you have the time to get there. No research is done
to protect this planet, only to move an upper class off it when the
resources are depleted, leaving the rest to starve in cannibalism.
4 - Genocide of the elderly, infirmed, and prisoners. There will soon
become a time when the bankrupt society will decide that in order to
survive under the present ruling class, anyone who can no longer be of
immediate benefit to the ruling classes must be eliminated to preserve
the elite's immense wealth and control over the masses. This differs
from 2, above, in that it will occur first in a very subtle way before
2 becomes necessary. These easily victimized groups are easily
poisoned in various ways to cause their deaths without alarming the
larger population still pulling the oars of the society. Class
warfare will justify it as my generation, I'm 64 and a WW2 baby
boomer, has just come of age to burden the working classes we came
from with more tax loads to support us. They'll be sold on the idea
from greed, alone.
5 - Religion induced mass murder. Humans have a long history of
genocidal wars caused by religious fantasies for thousands of years.
These religious wars are used, today, by the same elite classes as
population control (see 2 above). Religious wars are an excellent
excuse to commit mass murder of unwanted, lower classes to "cull the
herd" and enrichen the ruling classes, especially religious ruling
classes. Religious zealots force these wars in any way they can to
expand their controls over the mass populations. National Socialism
was a religion as much as a political party. New religions are afoot
far more dangerous than before because we now possess the ultimate
mass murder weaponry to commit those murders that were lacked before
1945. Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons development never
stopped working to create a better killing machine. Nazi
concentration camps were like boy scouts to really modern military
machines in killing power. Religious Christian zealots are counting
on Israeli Jews to incite mass religious wars they fantasize will
result in their sky pilot coming back to lead them to paradise. Jews
use this to get massive funding from the US government in weapons of
mass destruction, in addition to pouring America's wealth into Israeli
coffers without question, no matter what crimes the Zionists
commit....proof positive it will happen, hopefully not in my lifetime.
Are these phobias, too?

Bud: "Hippie, you think everything is a conspiracy."
Hippie: "Everything is..."

[The Abyss]

--
Uncle Vic
aa Atheist #2011
"The Bible talks about the first rainbow after the Great Flood, and we
see rainbows in the sky today. This is proof of the divinity of Jesus
Christ and the existence of God." - Zacharias Mulletstein

Frank Galikanokus

2010-04-06 16:25:15 UTC

Permalink

Spiders.

JAM

omprem

2010-04-06 13:49:12 UTC

Permalink

On Apr 5, 12:06 pm, "Pro-Humanist FREELOVER"

Post by Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
- - -
A list of the top 10 fears, a comment on unmentioned
- - -
What Really Scares People : Top 10 Phobias
http://www.livescience.com/culture/091023-top10-fear-1.html
- - -
10 - The Dentist
9 - Dogs
8 - Frightful flight
7 - Thunder and Lightning
6 - The Dark
5 - Harrowing Heights
4 - Other People
3 - Scary Spaces
2 - Creepy Crawlies
1 - Slithering Snakes
- - -
o Fear of Death - heavily instilled in most, via instinct
and via the way most of us are raised. I, for example,
was raised in a Southern Baptist church, where fear
of death was a repeated notion mentioned in churches
I attended on a thrice weekly (sometimes daily) basis
for the first 18 years of my life.
o Fear of Hell - heavily instilled in those of us subjected
to the religious notions regarding such a place, from
the youngest of ages. Even though my fear of such
a place was a reflection of having been seduced into
believing in heaven, at the age of -8-, it was, as men-
tioned above, mentioned frequently in churches,
although hellfire and torment notions weren't men-
tioned as frequently. Perhaps, with me, even though
I found the heaven seduction appealing, I couldn't
buy into the anti-humanism and heavily mythical part
of the faith, and that fact + the exposure to the hell
threat in religions, played large roles in my mind for
decades.
All of that stuck in my mind so deep, that my night-
mares regarding such a place only ended when I finally
gave up God, like totally, as being anything other than
a myth, well into my adult years (said time occurring
about the time I started posting to newsgroups under
my real name, quite a long time ago), the alt.atheism
newsgroup being the focus of my attention for several
years.
- - -
The way the mind works, based on the totality of
stimuli and life experiences one has, including the
genetic predispositions one is born with.
The programming I was exposed to, from a very
young age, heavily within the environs of churches,
my escape was only provided by sufficient exposure
to what at the time I was raised was a predomin-
antly secular world. That, and the disease I've been
battling since age 5 (type 1 diabetes, aka Insulinitis,
see below)
http://prohuman.net/insulinitis.htm
and significant exposure to the non-church side of
the argument which only occurred when I commenced
research into that side via the tools available on the
internet, played large roles in forming the basis of my
current state of disbelief in the entirety of the supposed
so-called supernatural realm.
- - -
¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤
~~~
Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
http://prohuman.net
(Freethinking Realist Exploring
Expressive Liberty, Openness,
Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality)
~~~

The main fears of Atheism are
1. Fear of the unknown
2. Fear of being alone in a hostile universe
3. Fear of finding out they are ignorant

Pro-Humanist FREELOVER

2010-04-06 14:56:59 UTC

Permalink

On Apr 5, 12:06 pm, "Pro-Humanist FREELOVER"

Post by Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
- - -
A list of the top 10 fears, a comment on unmentioned
- - -
What Really Scares People : Top 10 Phobias
http://www.livescience.com/culture/091023-top10-fear-1.html
- - -
10 - The Dentist
9 - Dogs
8 - Frightful flight
7 - Thunder and Lightning
6 - The Dark
5 - Harrowing Heights
4 - Other People
3 - Scary Spaces
2 - Creepy Crawlies
1 - Slithering Snakes
- - -
o Fear of Death - heavily instilled in most, via instinct
and via the way most of us are raised. I, for example,
was raised in a Southern Baptist church, where fear
of death was a repeated notion mentioned in churches
I attended on a thrice weekly (sometimes daily) basis
for the first 18 years of my life.
o Fear of Hell - heavily instilled in those of us subjected
to the religious notions regarding such a place, from
the youngest of ages. Even though my fear of such
a place was a reflection of having been seduced into
believing in heaven, at the age of -8-, it was, as men-
tioned above, mentioned frequently in churches,
although hellfire and torment notions weren't men-
tioned as frequently. Perhaps, with me, even though
I found the heaven seduction appealing, I couldn't
buy into the anti-humanism and heavily mythical part
of the faith, and that fact + the exposure to the hell
threat in religions, played large roles in my mind for
decades.
All of that stuck in my mind so deep, that my night-
mares regarding such a place only ended when I finally
gave up God, like totally, as being anything other than
a myth, well into my adult years (said time occurring
about the time I started posting to newsgroups under
my real name, quite a long time ago), the alt.atheism
newsgroup being the focus of my attention for several
years.
- - -
The way the mind works, based on the totality of
stimuli and life experiences one has, including the
genetic predispositions one is born with.
The programming I was exposed to, from a very
young age, heavily within the environs of churches,
my escape was only provided by sufficient exposure
to what at the time I was raised was a predomin-
antly secular world. That, and the disease I've been
battling since age 5 (type 1 diabetes, aka Insulinitis,
see below)
http://prohuman.net/insulinitis.htm
and significant exposure to the non-church side of
the argument which only occurred when I commenced
research into that side via the tools available on the
internet, played large roles in forming the basis of my
current state of disbelief in the entirety of the supposed
so-called supernatural realm.
- - -
The main fears of Atheism are
1. Fear of the unknown
2. Fear of being alone in a hostile universe
3. Fear of finding out they are ignorant

1. ? I suppose to the extent that one worries about it,
fear could ensue, regardless of one's beliefs/disbeliefs/
doubts regarding supernaturalism, but most would be
fearful based on probabilities regarding the known, like
(for example) if someone in your ancestral line had died
of an inheritable condition that you might have, not based
on possibilities regarding the unknown when it pertains to
events that are highly improbable.

2. Nah, don't see most fearing that, but to the extent that
one fears loneliness, I suppose that could be invoked in
anyone regardless of whether they thought magic beings
were around and were their friends or foes.

3. Nope, as any lack of knowledge regarding anything
is always reducible by combining an open mind with
exploration and research and with an avoidance of
believing in something just because others say over
and over and over and [extend for a very long time]
"believe or else".

- - -

¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤

~~~
Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
http://prohuman.net
(Freethinking Realist Exploring
Expressive Liberty, Openness,
Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality)
~~~

Uncle Vic

2010-04-06 15:06:10 UTC

Permalink

Post by omprem
The main fears of Atheism are
1. Fear of the unknown
2. Fear of being alone in a hostile universe
3. Fear of finding out they are ignorant

The main fear of the Theist:

1. Fear of finding out you were wrong, and wasted the only lifetime you had
worshiping a pipe dream.

--
Uncle Vic
aa Atheist #2011
"The Bible talks about the first rainbow after the Great Flood, and we see
rainbows in the sky today. This is proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ
and the existence of God." - Zacharias Mulletstein

Virgil

2010-04-06 19:26:39 UTC

Permalink

In article

Post by omprem
The main fears of Atheism are
1. Fear of the unknown
2. Fear of being alone in a hostile universe
3. Fear of finding out they are ignorant

Since only someone who is himself/herself an atheist can be that sure of
what atheist fears are, "omprem" has just outed himself as an atheist.

And he is too late to fear becoming ignorant, as he is.

Uncle Vic

2010-04-06 14:58:24 UTC

Permalink

One fine day in alt.atheism, "Pro-Humanist FREELOVER"

I'm surprised Fear of Speaking in Public isn't on the list.

Post by Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
- - -
o Fear of Death - heavily instilled in most, via instinct
and via the way most of us are raised. I, for example,
was raised in a Southern Baptist church, where fear
of death was a repeated notion mentioned in churches
I attended on a thrice weekly (sometimes daily) basis
for the first 18 years of my life.

Parental indoctrination has a major influence on a child, of course. My
parents believed death was merely the end of life.

Post by Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
o Fear of Hell - heavily instilled in those of us subjected
to the religious notions regarding such a place, from
the youngest of ages.

For religious whackjobs only. The concept of eternal punishment is in
direct contradiction to the concept of an all-loving god.

Pro-Humanist FREELOVER

2010-04-06 16:14:45 UTC

Permalink

Post by Uncle Vic
One fine day in alt.atheism, "Pro-Humanist FREELOVER"

I'm surprised Fear of Speaking in Public isn't on the list.

That's mentioned 'neath 4 - Other People, as follows:
" ... Does the thought of speaking in front of an audience
color your face a bright red, send sweat pouring from
your pores and bring a sick feeling to your gut? Those
are just a few of the signs of social phobia, which affects
about 15 million American adults ... And it's not limited
to public speaking: Those affected can get the sweats
over eating or drinking in front of others, or a general
anxiety when around almost anyone other than family
members. The fear begins in childhood or adolescence,
usually around the age of 13. ... "

Post by Uncle Vic

Parental indoctrination has a major influence on a child, of course.
My parents believed death was merely the end of life.

Post by Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
o Fear of Hell - heavily instilled in those of us subjected
to the religious notions regarding such a place, from
the youngest of ages. [...]

For religious whackjobs only. The concept of eternal punishment
is in direct contradiction to the concept of an all-loving god.

You'd be surprised, perhaps, at the way that fear tactic
remains an integral part of many religions, with typical
religious doublespeak on the one hand threatening peo-
ple with it, and on the other hand in denial regarding it.

As they (religious folks) often do, when they're wanting
to promote it as a place of everlasting torment, they
select and spin scripture which clearly supports that
notion. When they're wanting to deny it, they select
and spin scripture that either equates hell with a one-
time torturous event ending in oblivion -or- they simply
spin it as immortal oblivion for those who don't qualify
for the pleasant immortality ticket.

Where do their hell notions come from? How are they
spun in the present day, compared to centuries past?
Is this yet one more in a long line of evidence of how
religions, from beginning to end, are simply reflections
of human myths, tools used to promote whatever fic-
tions folks wish to advocate based on the social / cul-
tural / religious / familial / authoritarian influences that
are around at the time and place people find themselves
in?

See the following for details, with a large number of
posts related to the topic of hell:
http://tinyurl.com/religioushellthreats

- - -

¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤ - ¤

~~~
Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
http://prohuman.net
(Freethinking Realist Exploring
Expressive Liberty, Openness,
Verity, Enlightenment, & Rationality)
~~~

Jimbo

2010-04-06 19:48:12 UTC

Permalink

On Apr 5, 12:06 pm, "Pro-Humanist FREELOVER"

10. People that tell us that they know what's best for us because
their god wills it, then start gathering in large numbers
9. Human ignorance, not indiviudually, but collectively.
8. Neighbors that state that they have a Constitutional right to own
nuclear weapons.
7. Vice Presidents that are nicknamed "Darth Vader".
6. People that believe so strongly that Dec. 21st, 2012 is the final
day of divine retribution that there's nothing they won't do to prove
it.
5. Poverty, in the generalized sensse.
4. Losing loved ones and friends.
3. Jay Leno's chin.
2. Not so much of death itself, but the possible pain and suffering
that often leads up to it.
1. The Wicked Witch of the West

WiseOne_101

2010-04-14 21:04:16 UTC

Permalink

[...]

The definite list:
2. Death
1. Life

Life is #1, because it is a category containing most individual
phobias, which, as we can see from the top 10, are encountered in
life. This includes imaginary fears/phobias, since the living mind
dreams these up, and suffers these in real life.
Death can be subdivided into:
(a) Dying
(b) The afterlife
(c) The unknown

Another reason to list Life as #1 is that, technically, dying is part
of life, while at the moment of death both life and dying cease.

However, since the aversion to dying is sensible, it takes precedence
(in a sound mind) over all irrational fears.

When you add upon life the potential for suffering-- war, chronic
illness, disfigurement, and every source of misery, it looks grim --
however, most of our fears are merely fears, since they have not (as
of yet) occured. Real disasters call for courage and reason, not fear
and collapse, thus we ought to start early by practicing level-
headedness in daily activities.

Any emotion which motivates clear-minded address of real threats,
where we engage our intelligence to prevent those, is potentially
helpful. However, irrational and overblown fears can motivate harmful
or destructive activity and unneeded suffering. These can be overcome
via the continual exercise of disciplines which require and develop a
clear, thoughtful, patient, calm, accepting and reasoning mind.

Zerkon

2010-06-24 11:14:56 UTC

Permalink

Post by Pro-Humanist FREELOVER
What Really Scares People

'What' is much less important than how, how less so than consequence.
Here is consequence:

Crimestop means the faculty of stopping short, as though by instinct, at
the threshold of any dangerous thought. It includes the power of not
grasping analogies, of failing to perceive logical errors, of
misunderstanding the simplest arguments ... and of being bored or
repelled by any train of thought which is capable of leading in a
heretical direction. Crimestop, in short, means protective stupidity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimestop