Editing Fear (section)

=== Nature ===
Although many fears are learned, the capacity to fear is part of [[human nature]]. Many studies<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Garcia R | title = Neurobiology of fear and specific phobias | journal = Learning & Memory | volume = 24 | issue = 9 | pages = 462–471 | date = September 2017 | pmid = 28814472 | pmc = 5580526 | doi = 10.1101/lm.044115.116 }}</ref> have found that certain fears (e.g., animals, heights) are much more common than others (e.g., flowers, clouds). These fears are also easier to induce in the laboratory. This phenomenon is known as [[preparedness (learning)|preparedness]]. Because early humans that were quick to fear dangerous situations were more likely to survive and reproduce; preparedness is theorized to be a genetic effect that is the result of [[natural selection]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ohman A, Mineka S | title = Fears, phobias, and preparedness: toward an evolved module of fear and fear learning | journal = Psychological Review | volume = 108 | issue = 3 | pages = 483–522 | date = July 2001 | pmid = 11488376 | doi = 10.1037/0033-295X.108.3.483 | s2cid = 7920871 }}</ref>

From an [[evolutionary psychology]] perspective, different fears may be different [[adaptation]]s that have been useful in our evolutionary past. They may have developed during different time periods. Some fears, such as [[fear of heights]] ([[acrophobia]]), may be common to all [[mammal]]s and developed during the [[mesozoic]] period. Other fears, such as [[fear of snakes]], may be common to all [[simian]]s and developed during the [[cenozoic]] time period (the still-ongoing geological era encompassing the last 66 million of history). Still others, such as [[fear of mice]] and [[entomophobia|insects]], may be unique to humans and developed during the [[Paleolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] time periods (when mice and insects became important carriers of infectious diseases and harmful for crops and stored foods).<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Bracha HS | title = Human brain evolution and the "Neuroevolutionary Time-depth Principle:" Implications for the Reclassification of fear-circuitry-related traits in DSM-V and for studying resilience to warzone-related posttraumatic stress disorder | journal = Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry | volume = 30 | issue = 5 | pages = 827–853 | date = July 2006 | pmid = 16563589 | pmc = 7130737 | doi = 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2006.01.008 | url = http://cogprints.org/5013/1/2006_P.N.P._Neuro-evolution_of_fear_circuit_disorders.pdf }}</ref>