What should we fear?  How do we decide what to fear?  Who gets to tell us what to fear?

Tune in any media outlet, each and every day, there is something new to fear.  Natural disaster, terrorism, economic woe, disease... the list is so long and so ingrained in our psyche we never stop to consider the veracity of a perceived threat. We just simply fear.

The human animal is wired for fear.  There is a button, deep in our brain, that when pushed reacts rather instantly and curiously.  It bypasses normal patterns of evaluation.  When we fear, we don't think about it, we just simply fear.  Chemicals are released that immediately effect our emotions and action.  Now, don't get me wrong, fear is not a bad thing.  Indeed, when I am strolling thru the desert, as I do daily, when I hear a rattlesnake I am damn glad it bypasses the built in encyclopedia in my head.  My body is brought immediately to attention, I feel the cortisol surge thru my veins and arteries which alerts me to a real threat.  Then my analysis begins.  Where is it, how far away, in which direction shall I move away?

So what's wrong with fear? What makes it worthy of its own blog? Savvy, and not so savvy, politicians, governments and advertisers have learned to push our fear buttons.  Fear distracts, controls, makes us jump in directions that "they" want us to jump.  It is the twenty first century tool of mass manipulation.

I intend to explore fear here, and welcome your comments.