Do you know a sense of fear? We think that we will not be mistaken if we assume that yes, because fear is inherent in almost every person. But what is fear? Fear is a negative emotion caused by a person’s belief that some event or other person can hurt him, pose a danger, threaten his health and life.
But for what reason is a man afraid even when he knows that his fear has no reason? How does fear work and affect a person? Why is it so powerful? To get at least a rough idea of this, it is worth exploring the topic in detail. However, of course, we will not conduct in-depth research now.
Today we want to present you some interesting and unusual facts about fear that will help you get closer to understanding it. And in more detail we talked about fear in our article “Fear. What to do with it? ”, Where they brought a lot of scientific arguments and opinions of experts.
Interesting and unusual facts about fear
We all have our own fears and phobias, but still fear cannot be regarded as something that only spoils a person’s life. Fear allows you to see the dangers and ponder your actions in order to keep yourself safe and sound. It is thanks to fear that we refrain from night walks through the gates, jumping from the roofs and swimming with sharks. But what is extraordinary in fear that we should know in order to better understand it and ourselves?
1.Fear can be inherited
Specialists from Emory University in the United States have found that fears, like genetic traits, can be passed on from generation to generation . In other words, not personal or social mechanisms of activating fear come into force, but genetic ones. The experience gained by previous generations goes to the next. Moreover, scientists believe that the basis is epigenetic factors - when not the DNA structure changes, but its subtle chemical modifications. This affects the expression activity of certain genes.
2. Many fears develop throughout life.
Like many personality traits (for example, character, perception of the world, worldview), most fears are also formed throughout a person’s life. Negative reactions develop under the influence of various events occurring in life.
For example, a fear of public speaking may appear in you because you were laughed at as a child after an unsuccessful reading of a poem in kindergarten. And the fear of loneliness may be the result of the fact that one day a loved one abandoned you. Therefore, by the way, many fears are quite amenable to elaboration .
3. Fear can be defeated by love
In contrast to the concept of love, we traditionally consider the concept of hatred, however, the concept of fear is also the opposite of the concept of love. When a person experiences love, his body produces the hormone oxytocin, and this hormone can dull and even completely nullify phobias and fears.
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Therefore, we so often hear stories about heroes committed by men in love, or outstanding acts committed by women for the sake of their men. Parental love can also be attributed here. Moreover, love can conquer even those fears that arose as a result of the most tragic events.
4. Fear smells
According to a study conducted by Rice University, people feel how fear smells, although they do not realize it, i.e. the body recognizes the smell of fear secreted by another organism. It is for this reason that when we are with another person and he is afraid, our condition may change.
This intangible smell can be transmitted in a chain from one to another. One of the explanations of the “infection” of people from mass panic and hysteria or fear comes from when several people gather at night around a fire or in a dark room and tell terrible stories to each other.