Response to Victor about Irrational fears

I came across this post a while ago, but decided now to respond to it, like Victor asked:

I know that the people that read this might go to buy and eat an apple just for me, but I guess I will just try to live through it. I don’t want to feel like the only person with weird and irrational fears of things, so respond to this and tell me what you are afraid of.

 I wouldn't categorize this as weird, but I am afraid of the dark.  It is strange because I am only afraid sometimes, like after someone mentioned a scary story of reference to one, or I just watched a creepy movie.  I think that everyone must be slightly afraid of the dark because it is the unknown, and our survival instincts tell us that there is some potential danger in unknown.  Our instincts kick in, and that is why sometimes when it is dark and I am alone, I imagine someone looking at me, or walk with a weapon sometimes.  I am very alert in the dark, and I am ready for surprises.  Once when I was 9, when I was walking downstairs at night, I held a bamboo stick for a weapon, and my dad jumped out from behind a corner to scare me, and I instinctively hit him.  The dark is the unknown, and in the unknown, there are potential dangers, and with dangers, our body naturally kicks into battle mode, or survival mode.

This reminds me of a question that Vinh asked Mr. Sutherland, about why people have fear when it is potentially bad for you before a test.  I have thought deeply about this, and came to an explanation.  Before, when civilization wasn’t as civilized, and we had to hunt for our own food, fear is what kept us alive.  Without fear, you would never be ready for an attack, and you wouldn’t fear your attacker, whether a human or an animal, and you would be killed.  It is also important for taking tests because without fear, you wouldn’t be fearful of failure and not study.  And you would fail, but you wouldn’t improve because you don’t fear any consequences that you will be faced with after.  I think hat moderate fear is the most effective way for passing a test.  You shouldn’t freak over a test, but you should never take it too lightly, and overestimate them.