a bunch of wimps!

Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - and if you live your life in constant fear, you're not

alone! A new study from the University of Chicago, finds that all humans have an innate

sense built in, that makes us fear things that are moving closer towards, rather than

moving away.

Now in evolutionary terms, this makes sense. Early humans were nowhere near as equipped

to deal with danger as we are now - so a wild animal or a person we don't know approaching

us, could be a sign of potential danger.

Nowadays, we don't have to worry about that as much. But even so, that aspect of our personalities

has apparently stuck around. And modern humans continue to experience what we call "approach

avoidance" - even when the things or people approaching us, are non-threatening.

For this study, researchers conducted eight different tests, using everything from sounds,

to videos of people walking towards you - even objectively innocuous things, like letters

of the English alphabet getting bigger and bigger. The goal was to see if objects that

looked or sounded like they were getting closer, would elicit fear within a group of test subjects.

And they did. All of them. But this doesn't just apply to physical objects.

It also extends to events that are approaching in time, or increasing in likelihood. The

example they used, was an impending visit from your cousin. Which reminded me of a hilarious

- and aptly timed - article I read on the Onion recently, entitled "Friend's Threats

To Come Visit Becoming Disturbingly More Genuine." Obviously that article is satire, but it's

a perfect encapsulation of what we're talking about here. Even things we we're looking forward

to - can still paralyze us with fear, for no ascertainable reason. In more serious cases,

they can put a severe damper on our day-to-day lives.

According to Christopher Hsee, the researcher who authored the study, "Approach avoidance

is a general tendency." And for one reason or another, humans can't seem to adequately

distinguish between times they should use it and times they should not.

So what can we do about this, aside from constantly living in fear? Well, from our end - not much.

Although there are select groups of people who could benefit from this information. Marketers,

for instance, may wanna consider how they're placing their products - so they don't unintentionally

create fear in consumers. Public speakers could also use it to their advantage, by making

sure not to get too close to their audience - unless, of course, fear tactics are PART

of their presentation, in which case nothing is sacred.

What do you guys think about this? Are you naturally fearful of the world around you?

Feel free to leave your responses in the comments below, and as always - thank you for watching.