Philosophical Rants of an Engineering Student 1: On Fear and Life

Why are we attracted to that which frightens us? I have two theories. One is mildly interesting, but I prefer the second one. It is the more romantic and entertaining. I do not propose one over the other in terms of realism. I believe both are possible.

My first theory is that if there is something we desire, but is too scary for us to attain. Its status among us desires is increased because it is not within our grasp. There is nothing special about the danger that attracts us. The desire is simply a byproduct of our inability to attain something we fear. That is to say there is nothing attractive about the danger itself

I prefer the second theory I came up with. There is something about danger that innately attracts us. We will always be attracted to things that are normal to us and safe. It is what we often seek. But we will always desire something that scares us. Continuing to seek after what is safe does not satisfy. Perhaps one reason why the danger attracts us, is that it is different. Things that are safe are things we understand and consider similar. Things which are different from us scare us. Perhaps it is truly the desire for something different than us that instills a desire for danger.

(I am unable to come up with a suitable link for this, therefore I am not including one.)