Fav Experiment

My favorite experiment that someone else in the class performed waaaaaas...

*drumroll*

William Wallace.

Now, I know I'll probably be the only one who preferred his "I'm going to set myself on fire" stunt to the rest of the experiments, but I really do have a legitimate reason.

The "fear" (more "discomfort" than anything else) of watching someone else set his bare skin on fire is completely different than all of the other experiments, for the following reason.

The other experiments all caused fear/discomfort for personal protection reasons.  We jumped at the popping balloon because it might be a threat to our physical selves.  The same reason governs our fears of mice, the unknown (the lsd trip and the ghost recordings), and being confined in small spaces.

But our fear/discomfort during William's experiment was for his physical self.  We were not afraid in order to escape danger; in fact, if William's skin was actually uncontrollably on fire, several of us would have probably put ourselves in danger to try and put him out.

This fear is not motivated by selfishness or self-protection, but out of compassion and/or empathy.

This type of fear is the reason we as an audience respond viscerally to horror and action movies.  If fear was limited to purely selfish situations, these experiences would be essentially meaningless.  Any time someone jumps into a river to save a drowning swimmer; any time a fireman breaks down a burning door; any time someone steps up to defend another person, the fear response (adrenaline dump, etc) accompanies the action.

Evolutionists would say that this type of fear developed in order to protect young from predators.

Christians would say that this type of fear is motivated out of love, and is a gift from God.