The Origin of Fear

I’ve been pondering the origin of fear. Is it taught or involuntary? I’m not talking about the fear that keeps us from hurting ourselves, but that which keeps us from realizing our fullest potential as individuals, communities and a species. I can remember as a child being fearless…to the point of indeed injuring myself, like the time I was mesmerized by a grinding tool on display at Montgomery Ward, the scars from which I still bear.

Is fear inherited? Do I really carry the fear of my father’s, father’s father’s mother in my DNA, four generations later?

Fear is a catalyst for inventions (from club, to spear, to slingshot, to gun, to bomb), a catalyst for a winning presidential campaign, a catalyst for a “reality based” television show that’s now in syndication, a catalyst to pull people together and a wedge to keep them apart. Seems like a pretty powerful emotion (?) to me. Fear is a business. Create fear in the consumer and watch them clamor for your product.

How much space does fear take up in my psyche, in our collective psyches? I’m going to sit back, watch, listen and see exactly how fear is manifesting itself in my life.