11 Fear and Anxiety
IMAGINE AN INFANT FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES transported to the present day. Would that child grow up holding medieval customs and beliefs? Of course not—he would grow up just like his twenty-first century peers. Physically, we are no different than the illiterate and superstitious peasant living a thousand years ago. Knowledge has advanced quickly, much faster than evolution has adapted us to this new world. We face present-day realities with psychological and emotional needs unchanged from the Middle Ages—or even the Bronze Age.
This may explain the attraction of fringe science like astrology. What seems commonplace today was often amazing or even shocking when first available. Understanding each new technology takes time, ...
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