I don’t buy it. Everyone is afraid of dying. It’s part of the instinct that helps us survive as a species. It’s a crucial feature of human evolution. It’s also, I strongly suspect, a crucial reason why so many people have trouble believing evolution is true. Life can be ironic like that. It doesn’t take much to trigger the fear of death. Just try to picture these scenarios. You’re standing on a very high bridge, like we might have near the campus of Cornell University in New York State. The gorges there are 50 meters deep (about 150 feet). You are scared—because of your fear of something going catastrophically wrong, that you might lean to have a look, and lean too far, etc. Or, you’re crossing the street, and a driver who’s texting almost hits you. Perhaps he slams on his brakes at the last possible moment. The tires squeal, the horn blares, your heart almost stops. You are scared out of your mind because he almost killed you. We are all scared of things that go bump in the night, because it may be a sound made by something dangerous, e.g.
