In an age of microchips, skyscrapers, and space travel, our bodies are still operating on software written 200,000 years ago. At the core of that software lies a small suite of ancient programs known as . These are not learned phobias (like a fear of flying or public speaking). They are innate, universal terrors hardwired into the human nervous system by evolution.
: Perhaps the most pervasive primordial fear, this manifests as a dread of what lies "beyond the known world"—shrouded territories or the literal darkness where threats could hide. Primordial Fears in Modern Culture primordial fears
Here is the dangerous part: We no longer live in the savanna, but our fear circuits do not know that. In an age of microchips, skyscrapers, and space