Woman Missing Some Brain, Is Totally Fearless As a Result

[Bigsmith]

So she could go through Amnesia The Dark Descent without shitting herself? Wow nice!

I WOULD PRAY TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.

it's only a matter of time until we start pumping out fearless soldiers then?

Ot: I'm not sure what is worse, not being able to feel fear... or being a coward like my self.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

She's essentially a Jedi.

I wonder if they'll try to fix her or if she?s afraid of being afraid...

Gender problems, a lack of genetic and bionic augmentation and longer than expected development cycles for power armor aside, I'd say she's more like a Space Marine of Warhammer fame. Where Jedi have simply mastered their fear, Space Marines are literally immune to it. As a result, Jedi are able to make informed decisions and take actions with calculated risk whereas if a Space Marine were told that the good of the Imperium demanded he wade into withering fire from an entire legion of Chaos Marines he would do it without hesitation or question.

 

[lucky_sharm]

I wonder if that takes away her ability to care about things. I mean, sure, lets say she loved her mother. She enjoyed every minute with her, but if someone were to say that her mother was going to die of cancer, would it bother her or would she not care, because she wouldn't fear her mother's death? All in all, poor lady. I wish something could be done for her, and give her at least a little fear.

Lacking fear does not mean that you'll lack emotional attachment. You don't lose the ability to feel sorrow, excitement, or any other emotion just because you lack fear.

Anyhow, people here are treating fearlessness as an all around bad thing, and that isn't completely true. Nothing will hinder your resolve, balance, or concentration when you do not fear. Walking on a narrow bridge, making split-second decisions, fighting, stuff like that.

 

[Namewithheld]

This sounds like it would be good for soldiers. Like modern day spartans (only wearing more then a cloak and a loincloth).

And minus having gay sex with your fellow soldiers in order to develop a stronger bond, I assume.

Bu bu bu bu but that's the best part of the Spartans!

 

[Baresark]

Why is it that fearless always seems to go hand in hand with stupidity? Why can't we not fear, but still avoid dangerous situations by realizing the danger through logic instead of emotion, like in Dune?

A lot of people misunderstand what this means.

First point, you're not fearless, therefore you can't understand how someone with no fear will react. You may think that having no fear can be compensated for by using "common sense". This is actually false. What you refer to as common sense or logic is actually a series of processes in the brain which go through the range of emotions a situation dictates are necessary and settles on the set that are most likely going to aid in your survival.

Second point, and this is for all the funny jedi comments and super hero comments, having no fear is not the same thing as being courageous. Courage is facing through your fear to accomplish a feat. This means that a person uses whatever logic and reasoning is necessary and decides that the potential outcome (save the person from the burning building) outweighs the potential risks (you die in a fire).

The brain is crazy awesome! Fun fact, if you have the two sides of your brain bisected, you can only ever see half of someones face, but your brain doesn't know it's not natural and you never realize it! So cool.

Edit: To further explain my point and what happened to her in the park, take a soldier as an example. The soldier would not in fact be able to identify danger unless a very specific set of standards were met if they could not experience fear. They would not be able to adapt to a situation where they were fighting non soldier combatants. It is a soldiers sense of fear that lets them know to be on guard. The opposite can happen to though, they could be so afraid they could be paralyzed. It is because of this lack of danger sense and the lack of fear of consequences that the soldier could shoot and kill everyone who didn't fit into the enemy combatant criteria. The woman when she was in the park literally had no idea she was in danger because of her lack of fear. It would be the same for anyone without fear.

 

[Baresark]

I wonder if that takes away her ability to care about things. I mean, sure, lets say she loved her mother. She enjoyed every minute with her, but if someone were to say that her mother was going to die of cancer, would it bother her or would she not care, because she wouldn't fear her mother's death? All in all, poor lady. I wish something could be done for her, and give her at least a little fear.

Lacking fear does not mean that you'll lack emotional attachment. You don't lose the ability to feel sorrow, excitement, or any other emotion just because you lack fear.

Anyhow, people here are treating fearlessness as an all around bad thing, and that isn't completely true. Nothing will hinder your resolve, balance, or concentration when you do not fear. Walking on a narrow bridge, making split-second decisions, fighting, stuff like that.

This is true, but there are potential downsides as well. People like to think of the positives, but not pay attention to the negatives. A person without fear is more likely to cut off a large truck in traffic, or even shoot someone else for lack of fear of the consequences.

I like your list of benefits, but they are no explicitly true either. These are all feats you accomplish by over coming fear, but without fear that means you are just as likely to make a poor decision as a good one in a split second decision, you are not trained well to fight but you do it anyway (getting yourself potentially killed in the process), and you need to train balance so you may try to walk across a narrow bridge before you are ready.

 

[Psycho Cat Industries]

I will be excited when she appears on the news for wrestling and killing a lion at the public zoo with only a piece of yarn and a handbag.

 

[Underground Man]

As someone with crippling social anxiety, I wouldn't mind being fearless.

 

[GodofDisaster]

That is pretty cool but also very dangerous.

Also since were on the subject of "fear" then I think this would be a good time to share this Gildarts quote from Fairy Tail.

Spoiler: Minor Fairy tail Spoiler

After Natsu Loses to Gildarts: "Wonderful. I won't blame you for being brave and standing up to me, but those with the courage to re-sheathe their blades are exceptionally rare. Fear is not evil it is to know your own weakness. If you know your weakness, people can become strong and gentle."