# What scares you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2008, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594 "2008-11-01T17:14:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/101 "2008-11-08T00:20:05Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > 1. That there is no afterlife, that all that matters is the here and now, and then when I’m dead and gone there is nothing more. I’ve never understood this attitude. I didn’t exist before 1968, and it didn’t bother me back then, so not existing after I die doesn’t bother me either: it’s not like I’ll be around to care. Hell, in the grand scheme of things I’ll only be around for an infinitesimal span of time, so I’ve spent most of my time not existing already. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/102 "2008-11-08T00:40:13Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > I’ve never understood this attitude. I didn’t exist before 1968, and it didn’t bother me back then, so not existing after I die doesn’t bother me either: it’s not like I’ll be around to care. Hell, in the grand scheme of things I’ll only be around for an infinitesimal span of time, so I’ve spent most of my time not existing already. Exactly! I have never found anyone else that thinks like this! Everyone is so concerned about what happens after they die? Why don’t you care about what you “were” or what happened to you before you were born? Same thing. ---
**Author:** ![GypsyBitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9bd4f/32.png) [@GypsyBitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GypsyBitch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/103 "2008-11-09T07:00:46Z")
> [@Syntropy](#): > > Clowns. I’m not being even a little ironic. It’s full on, Bart Simpson [“Can’t sleep, clown will eat me”](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Bedclown.jpg) fear. No, I have no idea why, they just creep the hell out of me. Ditto - and my Uncle used to be Bo Bo the clown…to this day, I cannot get his creepy ass clown face out of my head. Totally gives me the willies!! ---
**Author:** ![GypsyBitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9bd4f/32.png) [@GypsyBitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GypsyBitch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/104 "2008-11-09T07:03:55Z")
My feet hanging off the bed - like something is going to grab them…seriously. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![GypsyBitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9bd4f/32.png) [@GypsyBitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GypsyBitch)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/105 "2008-11-09T07:16:40Z")
What the masses feel is ‘normal’ or ending up in ‘the suburbs’ Normalcy - scares the heck out of me! ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/106 "2008-11-09T13:16:44Z")
Something getting stuck in my eyes and blinding me. My eyes are so vulnerable, and I couldn’t live without them. ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/107 "2008-11-09T22:24:24Z")
Becoming unable to care for myself, physically or financially. **Giant freakin marine** dying. And those damn uppy-down bridges on roadways. Nothing much else fazes me, but those three give me wake-up-screaming nightmares. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594/108 "2008-11-09T23:06:53Z")
The sort of global disaster that could bring down society. I get the feeling most people don’t realize how precarious our existence is. The majority of us live tens, hundreds, and thousands of miles from where are food is grown. The necessities of life come to us through an infra-structure of incredibly complex design and growth, and the more complex a system is, the more failure points exist. It could be a 21st century plague, spread by air travel and global commerce. It could be a natural disaster like the Yellowstone supervolcano going off or a mega-tsunami hitting the east coast of North America. It could be an ecological disaster brought about by our own changes to the biosphere - global warming, monoculture farming, loss of rain forest, whatever. There aren’t enough backups to protect large populations of people, and if the infrastructure fails, you can say goodbye to law and order. The idea of living in a world of anarchy scares the bejeezus out of me. I like the benefits that come with paying taxes. I like hospitals and doctors and pharmaceutical companies making money off of me. I like police and fire fighters and elections and civil law. I like all the dressings that come with civilization. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-scares-you/470594.md?page=5)