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Our deeply rooted and hard-wired survival instinct keeps us perpetually alert for potential threats. We are predisposed to view the world first in terms of possible dangers and any perceived threat will immediately dominate our attention. Powerlessness is one of the most terrible feelings humans can experience because it aims straight at the heart of our survival instincts. Feeling threatened but unable to do anything about it is one of the most visceral and panic-inducing forms of fear.
We come by our survival instincts honestly through evolution. Our earliest ancestors who were alert and cautious about the rustling in the bushes were less likely to get eaten by predators than those who ignored such noises. We wonder if something unknown will harm us long before we wonder if it will hug us because erring on the side of assuming at least possible danger serves us better in terms of survival.
From the rustling bushes of the hunter-gatherer ages to the at times mysterious seeming practices of modern era foreign nations our first instinct when confronted with something unknown is to determine whether or not it can or will harm us. In some cases this assessment is obvious and easy, the smaller and more individually direct the…