对未知的恐惧

The root of all fear, i believe, stems from the unknown. Why are people scared of death? Why are people scared of ghosts and spirits? I was watching this Youtube tag called the "What Is It Challenge" and people were so terrified when they were asked to touch things like leaves, acorns while being blindfolded. The way they screamed almost made it feel like you're watching a scene from Saw. 

Funny. But don't you think it reveals a deeper disclosure about humans?

Fear seizes us when we are unable to see, literally and figuratively. The moment we lose our sight is also the moment we lose our knowledge and control. Without knowledge and control, we feel disadvantaged; we feel powerless. This lack of power becomes a breeding ground for insecurities.

In traditional society, people were afraid of Nature. They worshipped and prayed to gods in fear of bad weather such as drought or monsoon or typhoons etc. Nature was an unknown factor to people and people could not control Nature. Hence, Nature was powerful. Nature was almighty. In modern society, however, people have learnt to understand Nature. We can now calculate the forthcoming of a tsunami, we know the formation of hurricanes. And so, we have the upper hand. We "gained" power. Instead of respecting Nature, we turned to exploit it. Millions of trees destroyed as we waste paper. Natural reserves gone as we dig into the grounds for minerals.

Humans are always trying to be in control. Take insurance for instance. You do realise that buying insurance does almost nothing to lower risks right? It is merely a compensation, a back up plan. We have learnt to calculate and measure the uncertainties of the future and put a worth to it. The capitalisation of risks shows how humans dearly look for means to be in control in any slightest way. Knowing gives us control, power and security.

It is never easy to trace the origins of a thought but i suppose the start of all the talk on uncertainty and risk was inspired by Daniel. He had such great faith that he continued worshipping god despite knowing that he would be thrown into the lions' den. I placed myself in his shoes. The results were immediate. I knew that i did not have faith like his.

Why?

I mean, God has been real in my life. I have seen the miracles He performed. I have been touched by Him. So why is it that i am still lacking in faith? Then i realised the reason. It is not because i do not believe in God's power. I do, i do. But the million dollar question is not on whether He could, it is about if He would. I knew that God had the power to save me. Yet at the same time, i understood that He had the power to take away my life too. It is a 50/50 chance. I have no control. It dawned upon me that Daniel completely comprehended this as well when he made his decision. His display of faith was not so much about being fearless because he believed in a powerful god, but that he was willing to stare straight into the eyes of the unknown without being in control, without having the upper hand, without having any sense of security at all.

Faith was the test to assess how much Daniel was willing to surrender and submit. Hope was the only thing left to help him make any sense out of this equation.

You know, we are all trained to calculate and measure things to the best of our ability. Is it worth it if i sleep more but study less? Is it worth it if i take up this high paying job but spend less time with my family? Is it worth it, is it worth it, is it worth it? All day long, we are just calculating and measuring in order to reduce risks to the minimum level because it gives us a sense of control and power of the future. However, there are many things that we are unable to calculate and there are even much more things which are out of our control.

Look at how the technologies we invented have helped us in understanding nature and to reduce risks. Yet, these are also the technologies that have betrayed us by bringing in new forms of risks such as nuclear power, thinning of the ozone layer, global warming etc. We try desperately to be in control, but are we? Or have we already spun out of beat to life's tempo and have yet to realised that we are just trying to catch up?