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Ask HN: Can a human society exist without insecurity?

1 points by babyrainbow ↗ HN
Can a human society exist without the insecurity that seems to be present in every individual. By insecurities, I mean things like, fear of being ostracized, fear of rejection, fear of death (as in "how will my death affect others", and not as in "A car is coming to hit me, let me get out the way").

It seems that the current society is sustained by the presence of these kinds of fears in every individual. If this is so, do you think it can be reason for a lot of insane things that is going on in this world? and should it be changed?

Thoughts?

8 comments

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Lorenz-Kraft
Hi, i think that "fear" (and all its derivate) is a basic human habit. Without it, i think, human mankind would not survive.

I think that its basically "fear" that drives us to rethink our actions for consequences.

Greets,

Chris

babyrainbow
That is why I differentiated the fear of dying as not the kind that makes you get out of harms way. But the kind that make you concerned of "what happens if I die tomorrow"...The first kind is essential for survival. But the latter is not..
Lorenz-Kraft
But if you see yourself not only as individual and as part of society, you will ask yourself what will happen if you die tomorrow. Put it to extreme: As more you see yourself in a society, the more fearful you should be (what happens to my family if i die tomorrow, what are all the others doing that might me cause not to live anymore tomorrow etc.)
babyrainbow
That is exactly the thing I am talking about. But your comment does not exactly answer my question. My question was not "should we fear death". It was about wether that sort of fear is essential to our current system of life. For example, a fear of death makes one to buy more insurance policies and earn as much as possible before they die. You take out the fear of death, then you take out a lot of incentive for making people work...

To put short, the question is about how much does these kinds of insecurities count in modifying a human being to make them into a suitable component of our current system of life.

Lorenz-Kraft
I'm not sure if i understand you right or if you don't see my point.

You think that LESS FEAR will be GOOD/will make our live easier (because we can focus on other thinks)?

Or are you more concerned about the "monetary/financial" aspect? Like more fear = more buying things to "get rid of fear" = more work for getting rid of fear that could be used more wisely?

To repeat my point of view:

More "rational" fear would be beneficial to you, your surrounding and in conclusion to the whole world.

babyrainbow
If a lack of insecurity is beneficial to individual, is another question.

I am asking how essential is the insecurity in indviduals, for sustaining our current setup.

Lorenz-Kraft
Well, i think its very essential.

From a scala from 0 to 100, i would say like 85% ... something like this.

But the way insecurity is exploited by firms (insurance companies are the best examples) is not a good way ... i think there are better alternatives (like more rational).

Lorenz-Kraft
>> If this is so, do you think it can be reason for a lot of insane things that is going on in this world?

I think that its more the lack of fear that leads to such "insane things".