I’m asking quite generally and I suppose what I’m getting at is those phobias that elude simple explanations such as a fear of heights stemming from not wanting to hurt oneself by falling.
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Basically being scared is and was a useful adaptation to keep us safe (fear of heights super obvious example of this). However, threats are variable, so while certain things can be fairly genetically programmed (i think its likely without any experience most people would be scared of a charging growling bear), a lot need to be learned. So we have to have the ability to learn to be scared of stuff.
Any time that our brain or body has to be adaptive, there’s a chance it can gets misdirected – this accounts for allergies and auto immune disorders from the immune system, abnormal scarring from skin etc.
When that misdirection occurs in the brain relating to fear responses, we get phobias. Sometimes the source of the misfire is clear, sometimes not so much.
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