Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium

Fear is one of the elementary animal feelings. From simplest lifeforms to thinking bipeds, every
creature has experienced it. When threatened, faced with an endangered survival or unpleasant
conditions, every animal will strive to return their disturbed peace and achieve reassurance of
their integrity. It can be a simple, instantaneous, momentary matter: when physically threatened,
the asnwer is fight or flight mechanism, which force us to choose whether to face the attacker or
to try to escape the danger one. !owever, humans also experience fear as a complex, prolonged
feeling, condition, a phobia, which consistently affects our tran"uility, burdens our thoughts and
influences our actions, even limit us in many situations.
#ince early childhood we are introduced with the notion of fear. $ven before we are capable of
understanding its meaning, we have experienced it. It is as common to us as any other feeling
happiness, sorrow, anger, etc. When we feel it, it overwhelms our mind and thoughts, and for a
certain period of time, we are unable to think of anything else except the cause of the fear, how
we can escape it, and the fear itself. We become somewhat unaware of our actions and subdue to
the instict of survival.
%hrough mass media we are continuously being introduced to the fact that in modern society,
fears have developed and evolved as the humans evolved, being present in everyday life more
than ever. &ut is it really like that' Is the fear of failure, which is brought to us by schools and
their grading systems, the fear of unacceptance in society, or any other (modern) type of fear,
much different than the fear in its simplest, basic form' In our search for happiness and
tran"uility, through our constant fight against nature, we have overcomed our ancestors greatest
worries: lack of food and shelter, and the presence of other animals which could endanger us.
*ow that we have managed to (tame) nature, can we say that we have diminished, or at least
reduced the aforementioned, simplest form of fear' I think we can. We can say that, in modern
times, these (higher) forms of fear are more present and more influential to us. Why are they so
important' Is it because of the "uantity of stimuli that make us think of them, or is it perhaps in
the very nature of the fears: the strenght they carry or the conse"uences of the feeling itself'
+erhaps both are to blame. With the ever enhancing ways of communication and evolution of
mass media, uni"ue role,models emerge, which propose how to dress, look, feel and think.
-aybe they arent.t always wrong and bad, as it is often thought, but they certainly have a great
impact on forming of one.s personality. *ot being able to follow the standards brings discomfort
and fear of unacceptance, which often leave conse"uences and mold the minds of humans into
being antisocial and fearful.
Fear of the unknown is fre"uently associated with hate and intolerance. Is it rightful to think of it,
only in a negative way' Is it rightfully considered to be the brake in the vehicle of progress, the
obstruction wich disables our improvement and degresses our society from becoming democratic,
morally enriched community/ could one be criticied for not wanting to accept any kind of
change because of the unknown conse"uences these changes could make, after experiencing only
negative ones'
Is there any reason or excuse which allows teachers and professors to, in any kind of way,
discourage and punish children who do not have good grades or can not sit "uietly in classroom,
and is the fear of failure the right, 0ustified mean for achieving their attention and potential, more
important than the confidence which could be ruined, and creativity which is smothered in the
process'
When a person.s integrity is attacked, either physically or through words, is it always considered
that the right answer should be to stand up against the attacker' 1an we 0udge those who rather
choose not to fight back, and suffer' Is there a right way to answer fear' Is the fear for our own
security, more important than well,being of others/ and does fear, in any way, 0ustify our actions'
%he constant presence of fear and the strenght of the effects this feeling has, may, perhaps
rightfully, make us think that there is no way we can exceed it. #ince our early childhood, we
experience it, and we are, throughout our lifetime, constantly reassured of its presence. %here is
no true way it can be avoided or shunned/ and the avoidance itself can bring as much discomfort
as the conse"uences of fear. %he only way to fight it, the only way to become free of the burdens
of fear and the chains of discomfort, is to be absolutely prepared for any kind of situation, and for
every kind of result. %o dissolve and strip the cause of the feeling to its core, to understand it
completely and utterly, to look it ob0ectively, analye the reasons and motives behind it, and
become aware of your own presence in the whole situation. %he only way to surpass fear, is by
reducing it to the very basis from which you can control it. 2uestions that emerge:
1an any fear be rationalied to that point, from which you can analye it, and find the soultion'
1an every situation be controlled, and can everyone achieve it'
In this regard, we can say that there is no uni"ue, clear pattern through which fears can be
exterminated, nor can we say that the human kind could ever become free from the presence of
fear. It solely and undeniably depends on the individual. 3ou must realie what causes your fear,
and devote yourself enirely to the eradication of these causes/ look for every possible way to
approach the problem, and understand it completely. For only when a fear of individual, which
limits and burdens him, is gone, can he achieve true peace and tran"uility.