4 ms·

My personal theory on this is that we have multiple generations of people raised in an urban environment who have by now no awareness or exposure to what 'norma

My personal theory on this is that we have multiple generations of people raised in an urban environment who have by now no awareness or exposure to what 'normal' darkness should be. In fact, I would even go as far as saying that there are a lot of adults who are physically afraid of the dark. We will rationalize this away with concerns for crime/safety, but it is a very primal fear of not seeing who/what is out there. Our eyes absolutely can (to a degree) adjust to darkness. Also a proper night sky experience is something I think could really bond us all together.

eCa 4y ago
> In fact, I would even go as far as saying that there are a lot of adults who are physically afraid of the dark. It’s such a popular phobia that it has multiple names[1]. > We will rationalize this away with concerns for crime/safety, but it is a very primal fear of not seeing who/what is out there. Yeah, it must be one of the OG phobias. Imagine sitting in a cave in the darkness and the fire burns out… [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark
- elcapitan 4y ago
  > It’s such a popular phobia that it has multiple names > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark And a really good song by Iron Maiden.
- HPsquared 4y ago
  Is it really so irrational though? Especially to the primitive human, there's beasties out there!
silversmith 4y ago
I thought I was okay with the dark. I've done a lot of running and hiking at night. If I have to get up at night, I won't turn on the lights at home. But couple years ago the fear of the dark hit me, and hit me hard. Overcast fall night at countryside. House enclosed by thick forests. So dark you can barely make out the tops of the trees against the sky. So quiet you can hear the wind and (for the most part) imaginary creatures rustling through the underbrush. Single floodlight illuminating an area just in front of the house. You're standing there on that island of light in a sea of (mostly) still darkness, and a primal fear creeps up your spine, telling you to get inside, hide. Anywhere but in that spotlight, exposed to all the night creatures, but unable to see them. That's also the moment why it clicked for me why gun ownership was so high in rural areas. At that moment, I definitely wanted some kind of defense against the dark.
- UncleEntity 4y ago
  There was this one time during the first gulf war when I was walking back from the company CP on an overcast night where I literally couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I had to wait for a lightning strike, walk a bit in the right direction, wait for more lightning, rinse and repeat. Kind of amusing to be honest and it took a while to get back to my hole. The non-overcast nights were amazing because there wasn’t any artificial light for hundreds of miles in any direction with us being in the middle of the desert and the air war going on. Could almost read by starlight. Also think high gun ownership is more about being able to go murder ducks than being scared of the dark because any responsible gun owner isn’t going to shoot at something they haven’t 100% identified so they don’t accidentally shoot the neighbors out looking for a missing cow or something.
progbits 4y ago
Mildly off topic but this is a great short story on the topic of darkness: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_novelette_and_novel) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_novelette_...

eCa 4y ago

> In fact, I would even go as far as saying that there are a lot of adults who are physically afraid of the dark. It’s such a popular phobia that it has multiple names[1]. > We will rationalize this away with concerns for crime/safety, but it is a very primal fear of not seeing who/what is out there. Yeah, it must be one of the OG phobias. Imagine sitting in a cave in the darkness and the fire burns out… [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark

elcapitan 4y ago
> It’s such a popular phobia that it has multiple names > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_the_dark And a really good song by Iron Maiden.
HPsquared 4y ago
Is it really so irrational though? Especially to the primitive human, there's beasties out there!

silversmith 4y ago

I thought I was okay with the dark. I've done a lot of running and hiking at night. If I have to get up at night, I won't turn on the lights at home. But couple years ago the fear of the dark hit me, and hit me hard. Overcast fall night at countryside. House enclosed by thick forests. So dark you can barely make out the tops of the trees against the sky. So quiet you can hear the wind and (for the most part) imaginary creatures rustling through the underbrush. Single floodlight illuminating an area just in front of the house. You're standing there on that island of light in a sea of (mostly) still darkness, and a primal fear creeps up your spine, telling you to get inside, hide. Anywhere but in that spotlight, exposed to all the night creatures, but unable to see them. That's also the moment why it clicked for me why gun ownership was so high in rural areas. At that moment, I definitely wanted some kind of defense against the dark.

UncleEntity 4y ago
There was this one time during the first gulf war when I was walking back from the company CP on an overcast night where I literally couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I had to wait for a lightning strike, walk a bit in the right direction, wait for more lightning, rinse and repeat. Kind of amusing to be honest and it took a while to get back to my hole. The non-overcast nights were amazing because there wasn’t any artificial light for hundreds of miles in any direction with us being in the middle of the desert and the air war going on. Could almost read by starlight. Also think high gun ownership is more about being able to go murder ducks than being scared of the dark because any responsible gun owner isn’t going to shoot at something they haven’t 100% identified so they don’t accidentally shoot the neighbors out looking for a missing cow or something.

progbits 4y ago

Mildly off topic but this is a great short story on the topic of darkness: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_novelette_and_novel) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_novelette_...