Fear, I think, is more than just a feeling; it's a primal instinct that drives us to survive. When something could harm us, fear is there to make us turn the other way. When something wouldn't harm us, but we think it could, fear keeps us from getting any closer. When something normal exceeds the scope in which we normally experience it, fear keeps us from experiencing too much.
I plan to play with the aforementioned "take something normal too far" idea. My experiment is simple, and I think all I can hope for is to get my test subject uncomfortable. However, if I'm lucky, I'm hoping they'll end up getting so uncomfortable that they either want to move away or have it stop.
My experiment is, simply put, a test of the Chinese Water Torture. I'll take a bottle of water and let it drip on someone to see how uncomfortable it makes them. Then, I'll squirt it at them to see if the sudden change in routine gets a reaction.
Testing it in class, it didn't go so well. My subject didn't really react to it either part of the experiment at all. He just never became uncomfortable with what was happening. He really took it in stride.
I think the problem is mainly a time issue; if I had more time the initial resistance to the experience would die out, and I would assume the subject would definitely want it to stop. Restraining the subject, thereby removing the freedom to end it at any time, and blindfolding/earplugging them to create sensory deprivation could help, but I don't think they would be in the spirit of "something normal taken too far."
This exercise has taught me a bit about fear. One big observation is that a lot of us are not really afraid of everything being done because of the atmosphere in which we're doing all this. This is a very laid-back class, and everyone's having fun. That considered, with so many people it's hard to shake away from the group's attitude, and the group's attitude is one of enjoyment.
For me personally, I reacted to Thomas Fraley's project the most; mainly because I went and got myself directly involved. He brought a mouse to class; I have a bit of a mouse fear. How enjoyable this was. I was made to hold it. In retrospect I honestly don't know why I'm so afraid of mice. I was, after the initial shell-shock, just fine with holding the thing, but I'm still really scared of them normally. Similarly, I held the other John's snake in class, and I was just fine with that. freaked out a little when it jerked its head fast, but otherwise was fine with it. However, if I see one in nature I know I would be terrified. I think it comes down to the fact that these are people's pets, and I've seen them touch them, so I know it's ok; but in the wild I have no idea what these things would do, and I guess that's what scares me about it.
I think that my reaction to the projects that got a rise out of me has shown me just how far something you normally accept has to be taken to become abnormal. We all have specific things that will just frighten us easily, but making fear out of something that most of us accept as normal requires going to an extreme that I wasn't able to reach for this assignment.
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