I just came across a post here that made me realise something quite interesting. The author said they are now fearful of getting in the car because, well, “we’re more likely to die in a car crash than a plane  crash”. This made me realise that we’re not just afraid of flying; we’re afraid of any activities that could harm us. Think about this scenario: you visit an amusement park and you just learn that the rollercoaster was broken all day yesterday and some people got serious injuries because of that; however, the workers assure you the issues were all fixed. Would you still ride that rollercoaster? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t 😊

So it’s not just about planes, it’s about everything that could hurt us. If I think about it even deeper, it’s clear that what I’m really afraid of is death; I am afraid of dying. I know, most of the people are, people who love to fly (are there such people btw? 🤔 ) are probably also afraid of dying, just that they don’t perceive flying as a live threatening activity. Maybe we, the fearful fliers, just happen to have a more acute sensitivity towards death.

What do you think? If we wouldn’t be afraid of dying, would we still be afraid of flying? Should we actually work on accepting/embracing/be comfortable with the idea of dying instead of studying aerodynamics or frenetically reading weather reports (which is what I do)? Is there a way to truly heal this fear, or it’s part of our DNA as human beings?