Your Irrational Fears

[AFriendlyFace]

Doesn anyone else have that problem? I can only be comfortable with one keyboard at a time.

Well I've certainly often had that problem. I'm a bit like that with mice (mouses?) too. My personal mouse is about twice as sensitive as the one I was using at my last job. Drove me crazy how sluggish the work one would seem at first. Then I'd get home and this guy would be zipping all over the screen like a maniac :wacko:

[Tristan Thinks]

It took me a week to get used to my laptop keyboard. Ugh... now I can't even type on the desktop. Doesn anyone else have that problem? I can only be comfortable with one keyboard at a time.

I find I have issues when I switch from my primary PC, a Vaio laptop, to one of the notebooks with their condensed keyboards and irregular key layouts. I'll be hitting the wrong keys, especially the ones around the margins, using the wrong shift-characters, and my hands will collide in the middle of the keyboard.

 

I use a Bluetooth mouse that can connect to any of the PCs so that in itself isn't an issue. What I do find though is the heels of my hands will brush the glide-pad occasionally and move the cursor, make a selection, or change input focus in the midst of my typing and suddenly I'll have deleted a block or the typing is going into the middle of a previous paragraph or the wrong window entirely.

[Tristan Thinks]

I just realised I have an irrational fear, or maybe even two - way to go! I thought originally I didn't have any

• Fear of causing an upset by telling a friend something that might be difficult
  
• Fear of causing an upset by not telling a friend something that might be difficult
  

and this from someone who isn't afraid of speaking his mind, or of blunt speaking.

[Drewbie]

Getting traped in an elevator.

 

Of getting lost.

 

Never finding a partner.

[darkfoxprime]

Easy one first: The Internet- I have no real fears with the Internet. maybe I'm too trusting in my own system administration abilities.

 

The World Around you - spiders and snakes are easy. I grew up in the desert, with rattlesnakes living in the area and black widow spiders everywhere.

 

The hard one for The World Around You is my "Other" fear - of going blind. Since grade school, I've been terrified of the thought of going blind. Everything I do for relaxation, for enjoyment, for my job, *everything* relies on sight. Without the ability to use the computer (for programming, reading, writing, playing games, everything), I'd almost feel like it's not worth living anymore, except for the love of my life partner.

 

For Personal & Relationships, I voted "Other" - my irrational fear (which might not be so irrational) is of getting attacked whenever I hold my partner's hand in public. Every time I do so, I unconsciously look around to see who's going to beat me up, and I hate that I do it. It sucks to be afraid to show your love.

[Razor]

Getting traped in an elevator.

 

 

....the other day, the elevator broke. Drew and I were inside it, lol. The door did not want to open, so we were stuck until campus police got there and got the damn thing open.

 

 

 

Oh, another random fear! I can't stand using a restroom if someone else is in it. I don't know why, it just drives me crazy.

[Razor]

Okay, I think I have (or maybe I've had it for a while) a new one.

 

I fear that I will become as morally bankrupt and soulless as what seems to be the vast majority of people. Yes, weird, but allow me to elaborate.

 

I continually read screwed up things in the news. I was just reading about how a girl in a polygamist setting gave her mother a letter telling her that her father had been molesting her. The mother handed the letter back to her and told her that she spelled 'molest' wrong.

 

Every time I turn around I find out new things about friends/family that really test my love for them. At what point can I stop ignoring the things that might be less than moral about these people, and at what point SHOULD I stop ignoring them? What is the proper course of action in such cases? Am I allowed to interfere with other people's lives?

 

It seems like the more I talk about this idea/theme with other people, the more they give me this look like I'm an idiot. It's like I'm not supposed to be naive enough to believe that people are actually good until I'm proven wrong. Why is that normal? It doesn't make much sense to me, and it truly bothers me more than anything else I've ever encountered. As for the list of things that makes it difficult for me to sleep at night, this damn well tops it. Sometimes I can quiet my mind, repeating "there's nothing you can do about it" to myself, but sometimes I KNOW there are things I can do about it, but I'm not sure if they're the right thing to do.

 

I'm also afraid that I'll become as much of a hypocrite as some people seem to be. I hear people around me criticising the polygamists, or religious right, or whoever else, and I think to myself "How can you say anything about them? I know that you've done or at least thought things on equally shaky morally ground, so how do you have any right to condemn these people?"

 

Anyway, I'll shut up now since there really is nothing to be done about it. It just bothers me far more than it should, I guess, that people seem to be so incredibly blind to their own moral shortcomings. Or maybe they're not even blind, but they're desperately hoping no one else will point it out. ~shrug~

[AFriendlyFace]

I'm also afraid that I'll become as much of a hypocrite as some people seem to be. I hear people around me criticising the polygamists, or religious right, or whoever else, and I think to myself "How can you say anything about them? I know that you've done or at least thought things on equally shaky morally ground, so how do you have any right to condemn these people?"

The sentiment you're expressing reminds me very much of how I was feeling when I wrote my blog entry, Prejudice

 

I have a very peaceful, live and let live, equal rights for all kind of perspective on life so prejudice of any kind is definitely one of my biggest moral pet peeves.

 

I admit that since that one holds special significance for me it's difficult for me to look at it subjectively and relatively. However, I am able to do that with most other things, even other things I don't personally agree with. I gather from our past discussions that you particularly dislike moral relativism, but I really do find it much easier to interact with other people and even get something positive from the interaction if I'm able to conclude that they're just different from me in their moral perspective, but that it might work for them and might not be inherently wrong.

 

The litmus test I always use is whether or not their actions harm anyone else. If they don't then there's very little if anything I would consider inherently wrong. I think very few things are right or wrong, black or white; there are always shades of gray and if you ask me it really just depends on your perspective.

 

As far as how much you should put up with...well only you can answer that question, but my personal approach is as follows:

 

I assume that first and foremost my number one responsibility and priority is to be a good friend and/or family member. I'm pretty outspoken so I'll probably give my opinion, and I definitely will if it's solicited (I occasionally try to keep it to myself if it hasn't been). However, after all the debate is done, I think my role is not to make other people's decisions for them but simply to accept them as they are. I have many friends who hold positions I could never support, but I still support the friend and do my best to remember that it's okay if we don't agree.

 

There comes a point I think where you have to just sort of shake your head, say to yourself, 'fine make your own mistakes' and then just give the person a hug and wait around to either be proven wrong or to help pick up the pieces when you're proven right.

 

I'm a big fan of minding my own business. I suppose there also comes a point when someone you care about very much is doing something you think is absolutely disastrous and that you do have a responsibility to actually interfere and try to stop them, but I think that point is much more rare than most people tend to decide. Overt interference in other people's lives should always be an absolute last resort/extreme situation, in my opinion. Tell them your thoughts certainly, debate with them, explain your position etc. All these things are good for intellectual discourse and wise decisions, but after that I think we must also be willing to butt out and just do the unconditional love and support thing.

 

Just my thoughts though,

Take care all,

Kevin

Edited April 8, 2008 by AFriendlyFace

[canundra]

For personal/relationship fears: Afraid of being alone for the rest of my life...Y'know, never finding that one person. Oh, and being trapped. Trapped in a town/city/place where there are no opportunities, no way for me to get out. Where I'm trapped because of obligation/duty, when I wish to be elsewhere.

 

The world around me: I'm afraid of heights and of deep water. I can't swim

 

Internet: Viruses scare me often. Mostly because I have waaaaaay too much stuff on my computer that I would hate to lose. But, whatever. Just get Norton Antivirus and you'll be fine. I hope.

[AFriendlyFace]

For personal/relationship fears: Afraid of being alone for the rest of my life...Y'know, never finding that one person.

Personally, I've never seriously thought there might be just 'one person'. Don't misinterpret that to mean I'm against monogamy or in favour of serial monogamy versus working on your current (fixable) relationship. All I mean is that I think there are quite a few people out there that a given person could be compatible and very happy with.

 

I think romantic relationships can be extremely intense, beautiful, and deep, and definitely have the potential for that 'forever' thing. But I don't think they're all mystical and stuff, and that in this giant world of ours there's really a significantly limited number of matches.

 

Just my thoughts on it though

 

Oh, and being trapped. Trapped in a town/city/place where there are no opportunities, no way for me to get out. Where I'm trapped because of obligation/duty, when I wish to be elsewhere.

Ohh, I sorta have this too!

 

The world around me: I'm afraid of heights and of deep water. I can't swim

LOL, for some reason I always get excited when I find out someone else can't swim! I don't know why, but I guess it just makes me feel better or something about my own inability, lol. Hmm, I don't suppose we ought to all get together and go on a cruise though

 

Anyway, as I said, I'm not really afraid of water despite the non-swimming thing...which I suppose just makes me stupid