Is fear of the dark rational or irrational?
Fear of the dark itself, irrational. 🙂 Sorry, I had to do it. Fear of being in the dark, is totally rational. It probably stems from the time that our ancestors weren’t at the top of the food chain. The only thing that kept them safe from predators was the light and warmth of their fires. Without the fires, they were just little pieces of steak running around blind in the dark. Dark=death as far as our pre-wired system is concerned. And its probably for the best.
All depends where the fear stems from right?If a person is locked in a dark cubboard as a child(abused)then it is a tottally rational fear.BUT if you are scared to go downstairs because you saw a scary show the irrational. We had a co-worker that would freeze when the lights would go off. I always ran to her and we put our flashlights together(Wal-Mart -power outtage).The fear in her eyes was there for all to see.I never asked her what happened and she never volunteered the info.
IN times past when people didn’t know many things and there were things that lurked in the dark like wild animals, it might have been rational to be cautious of the dark when they didn’t have ways to light up the night and see. Nowadays we know what lies outside and if we take precautions, it’s not necessary or rational to be so scared of the dark, unless you want to walk the inner city streets at night alone.
