Modern Fears

How curious it is that we began to group together to protect ourselves from the dangers that merely existing generates. We created tribes, villages, and families with the aim of not feeling so alone and defenseless. We sought ways to counteract the dangers that lurk out there. Some distinguishable and terrifying, with faces that, without speaking, tell us that the situation is irreversible. Others invisible and lethal that, without warning, slowly take away the chance we were given to live.

Together we learned techniques and methods to make tools, build shelters, and even cheat death. We assigned names and symbols to things to communicate and, at the same time, understand that confusing system we now call “nature.” We perceived manifestations of space and took them as symbols to seek a higher presence that would guide and protect us.

Little by little, we began to lose the fear of the unknown. The faces that once terrified us and were synonymous with death started to seem weak, manipulable, and perhaps even inferior, leading us to stop considering them part of this game at some point.

Technology kept advancing, and this thing called “living” became increasingly simpler in our eyes. We believed ourselves to be special and unique, superior to anything that inhabited this planet, including our neighbors. At some point, we forgot how this story began. We forgot the face of fear and began to ridicule it. We forgot that we had gathered to support each other and not feel so… alone.

Now we still gather, but in smaller groups, and although we continue to shield ourselves from nature, we are no longer concerned about hungry lions, the eerie sound of an approaching storm, or the grim sight of crops devastated by the cold. We had to develop new security systems that make us feel safe but also control us. Devices that bind us but allow us to be free. Simple yet capable of deceiving a person. Because now, we protect ourselves from ourselves.