What is Fear?

By: raihana

SummaryBy Kirsten

This discussion was led by Raihana, one of the first official members of the ScienZ society. (For more information on what being an official member of the ScienZ society means, please take a look at the ‘About’ page.) It started with a simple definition of fear followed by an elaboration on it, touching on the reactions caused by fear. Next, there was an explanation on the cognitive pathways behind why we react a certain way in regards to fear, introducing terms such as the thalamus, amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus etc.

The conversation focused on why we can develop such specific fears despite knowing that it is probably an irrational fear. We discussed someone's fear of clowns- why clowns? What makes some of us fear them so much? Could it be that this fear was inherited? Learned from parents? Learned from movies? How does the amygdala’s role in associating emotion with a set of features apply to this? Additionally, we discussed when we should consider something as just a fear and when we should consider it a phobia. Finally, it ended with a short but fun quiz with everyone participating energetically.