[extropy-chat] Fear of flying

kevinfreels.com kevin at kevinfreels.com
Mon Jun 6 03:16:10 UTC 2005


 I'm getting ready to leave on my second commercial flight in my life and I am dealing with that annoying fear of flying. For the past two days I have not been able to concentrate on much else. It's always in the back of my head.
Yet I know very well the statistics regarding airline safety. I am quite aware that I am probably more likely to have a plane land on my head than die in a crash since I have flown so rarely. 
A quick look at some stats show that in the two planes I will be in, Boeing 757 and 767, there have been a combined total of 14 incidents that involved fatalities. Of those, four were on 9/11. Three more were the result of some other types of hijackings in other countries. One was a charter. One was a suicide (EgyptAir). One other was simply an elderly man who stepped out the catering door and fell to the ground. This leaves just four that involved regular mechanical or pilot error. That is out of over 24 million flights. http://www.airsafe.com/events/models/rate_mod.htm

Meanwhile, I am a student pilot and it does not bother me to fly on my own. 

Of course, this is because of my irrational fear of not being in control. I know darn well that I am at much greater risk flying myself (48 times more likely to die in general aviation). I don't think about dying every time I get into the car. Nor do I trouble myself when I walk down steps or ride a bicycle. There are probably more people who die on the escalator at  the airports than in the actual planes! (That could be an interesting study)

But the fear persists. 

While I was in the shower I realized that the fear of course comes from a PERCEIVED loss of control. I realized that we as humans constantly fool ourselves into believing that we are in some sort of control when in fact we are not. 
This is evident in the way that we handle our everyday lives. 

It led me to think about religion and how devoutly religious people give up control of their lives to God. I began to realize that this deep seated need to feel in control of our lives must go back really far. In fact, it could very well be the driving force behind religion, not fear of death, but fear of loss of control. 

So just how far back does this go? Is it a uniquely human trait or does it go back further? Did H. neanderthalensis, H. erectus or H. habilis have similar problems? 

Is this the primary motivator behind power hunger and tyranny? Do people with a greater fear of loss of control exhibit a greater need to conquer?

And what can be done about this in the future? Is this the basic fear that many have to transhumanism? Are people afraid because they perceice a possible loss of control over their lives? Are we fooling ourselves into believing that we can control our creations through the same method that we fool ourselves into believing it is safe to climb steps? 

OK. I guess I am done with my rant. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. I know. But since I can't shake the fear, I might as well analyze it. :-)
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