Can Fear or Lack of Fear be dangerous to you?

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C

Chibibar

Amygdala Damage Made Woman Fearless, Study Says: What's an Amygdala? - Health Blog - CBS News

I read this article and thought about if a person is lack of fear (i.e. fearless) then would that person be a danger to oneself?

In my limited understanding, fear does have a place in our personal development. If you felt fear, the body and mind will think of ways to protect oneself. i.e. Fear of being robbed will make a person more alert while walking alone at night (or avoid it totally) Fear of certain animal will avoid it.

the article talks about how this particular woman willingly walk toward a man and almost got robbed because her brain didn't send off "alarms" (can relate to fear) and tell her to do things otherwise.

I would assume that with extensive training, if a person doesn't feel fear, the training will kick in and help the person act accordingly, but this women didn't have that training and still walk toward the questionable man and later was stick up with a knife.

BUT here is the question, even the "bravest" of man feel something and the "training" will kick in or your brain will run multiple scenarios of something when facing certain "fears" so..... if a person who doesn't feel any fear (at the brain level) would the training even "kick in?"
 
J

Jiarn

She's lost lack of Fear. Not common sense....

The military applications of this however....
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
...and then a strange, red-robed little man with blue skin offered her a ring made of an odd green metal.
 
J

Jiarn

sixpackshaker;461168][QUOTE=Jiarn said:
The military applications of this however....
Click to expand...
Would lead to a lot of body-bags for the test subjects.

and about "SM," wow, her's is a strange case because most that have similar damage have no emotions. Not just losing one emotion.[/QUOTE]

Again, it's lack of fear, not lack of intelligence/common sense.
 
C

Chibibar

Jiarn;461172][QUOTE=sixpackshaker;461168][QUOTE=Jiarn said:
The military applications of this however....
Click to expand...
Would lead to a lot of body-bags for the test subjects.

and about "SM," wow, her's is a strange case because most that have similar damage have no emotions. Not just losing one emotion.[/QUOTE]

Again, it's lack of fear, not lack of intelligence/common sense.[/QUOTE]

The reason I post the question cause this woman "SM" lack of fear walking toward a questionable guy who is probably high at the time. Most of us have some level of "fear" and would either avoid it or be more alert. This woman WALK TOWARD the guy and then got stick up with a knife.

So to me, some common sense went out the window.

She apparently hasn't felt fear as an adult, not even 15 years ago in an incident described by the researchers: a man jumped up from a park bench, pressed a knife to her throat and hissed, "I'm going to cut you."
SM, who heard a church choir practicing in the distance, looked coolly at him and replied, "If you're going to kill me, you're going to have to go through my God's angels first."
The man let her go. She didn't run home. She walked.

But if her lack of fear helped her get out of that scrape, it might also have gotten her into it in the first place. SM had willingly approached the man when he asked her to, even though it was late at night and she was alone, and even though she thought he looked "drugged out."
Click to expand...
 
sixpackshaker

sixpackshaker

Jiarn;461172][QUOTE=sixpackshaker;461168][QUOTE=Jiarn said:
The military applications of this however....
Click to expand...
Would lead to a lot of body-bags for the test subjects.

and about "SM," wow, her's is a strange case because most that have similar damage have no emotions. Not just losing one emotion.[/QUOTE]

Again, it's lack of fear, not lack of intelligence/common sense.[/QUOTE]

If you don't get the emotional response from a dangerous situation, common sense won't do you much good.
 
strawman

strawman

A lot of what people call "common sense" is based on fight or flight warnings in the brain, or what people commonly refer to as "fear".
 
J

Jiarn

Yeah not really.

If I see a dark alley, I will not go into it. Not due to fear, but because I know that I would get shot/mugged/etc. The only thing fear does for me, is if I'm walking through that alley, I would be paranoid and nervous.

Military Ex: If I'm fully armed and my mission is to take out an insurgent base camp. Fear would possibly prevent me from performing at my full capacity. Without that, I could function fully and still be fully alert/smart about it.
 
Wahad

Wahad

To answer the title's question: yes. Lack of fear will make people attempt to do things they otherwise wouldn't, which in turn can lead to dangerous situations. If placed in normal context, it's called recklessness. Conversely, too much fear can lead to overprotection which can also be dangerous, albeit in a different way. Placing it on the opposite end of recklessness would make it cowardice, I suppose, though a better term is wanted. Bravery and courage then, being regarded as good traits, is/are the ability to stand up in the face of danger at some points, and retreat in others. Of course, bravery and recklessness are often characterized more by their consequences than by their ''level of fearlessness'', so to speak. For example, a single security guard attempting to disarm/neutralize multiple bankrobbers or other hostile people will be regarded as a hero if he succeeds, and as reckless if he fails.

As for the woman, the condition is rather interesting. I'll have to agree with sixpack in that loss of emotional response to an object will influence one's rational thought/common sense. See the example of approaching the ''drugged-up'' man (whether or not he was is irrelevant; the fact that he was a threat was.) She was extraordinarily lucky, but the fact that she did not blink did help her in that it unnerved (or so I imagine; approaching somebody with the intent to do them harm and having them not flinch will put a dent in everyone's spirit) the guy. Instinct and rational thought are not quite as separable as some people would like to think.

---------- Post added at 04:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:09 PM ----------
Jiarn said:
Yeah not really.

If I see a dark alley, I will not go into it. Not due to fear, but because I know that I would get shot/mugged/etc. The only thing fear does for me, is if I'm walking through that alley, I would be paranoid and nervous.

Military Ex: If I'm fully armed and my mission is to take out an insurgent base camp. Fear would possibly prevent me from performing at my full capacity. Without that, I could function fully and still be fully alert/smart about it.
Click to expand...
I think you are misunderstanding the word fear. It is not just ''feeling scared''. It is a basic instinct of avoiding things that are a threat that you can not overwhelm. Not going into an alley because you're going to get shot is the basic instinct of fear. (or, if you want to put it otherwise, the ''flight'' in the ''fight-or-flight'' response, albeit in a less direct way.) Common sense tells you crime levels are high thus you are likely to get shot in an area. If you knew you could handle it, you'd go in the alley/shortcut regardless.
 
J

Jiarn

I think common sense tells someone with no sense of "handling themselves" not to go into a dangerous situation.
 
C

Chibibar

Jiarn said:
Yeah not really.

If I see a dark alley, I will not go into it. Not due to fear, but because I know that I would get shot/mugged/etc. The only thing fear does for me, is if I'm walking through that alley, I would be paranoid and nervous.

Military Ex: If I'm fully armed and my mission is to take out an insurgent base camp. Fear would possibly prevent me from performing at my full capacity. Without that, I could function fully and still be fully alert/smart about it.
Click to expand...
Yea I have to agree with Wahad on what I was trying to get/understand.

I think this woman SM shows lack of emotion in the fear. Thus she may not trigger any "fight or flight" in her mind cause nothing is going to trigger it (usually the emotion of "fear")

---------- Post added at 03:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:17 PM ----------
Jiarn said:
I think common sense tells someone with no sense of "handling themselves" not to go into a dangerous situation.
Click to expand...
I use to work downtown. I am handle myself in some situation (been to a few fights myself here and there but nothing spectacular) but when I encounter a strange person in downtown (happens a lot) I get an emotion and my brain will automatically give me some scenario on what to do if something happen. I still need to walk pass the guy to get to work, but also be more "prepare" in my head.

I think the woman SM doesn't even get that "feeling" since she doesn't feel fear. So would the rest of the "fight or flight" even kick in? I mean common sense would be (at least what we are taught since we were kids) don't talk to strangers and/or avoid them especially suspicious looking on.

Now I guess here is an expansion question.
Usually a person have a "bad feeling" on someone they see. Do you think that could be part of the "fear"? and your brain will pull up all the stories you heard before like.
- If you see a person trying to cover their face and looking suspicious - you feel that person might be bad and start pulling up what gang member might look like and then what to do when encounter one, you might start looking around for law enforcement.
 
strawman

strawman

I think a few people here may need to brush up on what "fear" is, technically.

Fear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

---------- Post added at 04:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:23 PM ----------

A lot of people here are talking about anxiety, paranoia, and other emotions typically associated with fear.

Fear, however, is a very specific, distressing, emotion.
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

Fear plays a very important role in our lives. It can trigger certain bodily responses, such as fight or flight, which drastically alter our brain chemistry in the process. Fear can trigger adrenaline, an increase in focus, and put our cognitive abilities in overdrive, leading to (hopefully) important decisions on how to stay alive quickly.

We need fear.
 
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