I'm probably a freak in this manner, but instead of getting scared during movies or reading horror stories, I get scared when hearing about theories dealing with the future.
As the title of the node suggests, what follows is a list of the various things that scare me (that I can think of off the top of my head) and why:
- The Heat Death of the Universe
I've always been fairly comfortable with the fact that I was personally insignificant, but dealing with the concept of the total end of the universe is unnerving. Before learning about this, I could always consult chaos theory for comfort, but now there's a theory saying that my actions will be totally negated?
- Marx's theory on the evolution of society
According to Marx, society has gone through three phases, and will eventually enter a fourth. We're currently in a society with the bourgeois and the working class (otherwise known as proletariats). Eventually, says Marx, the working class will overthrow the bourgeois, and theirs will be the only class. No class struggle, no major differences in affluence. What will there be to strive for? Will people stop caring to work, because they'll never be able to enter a lower class? Will large scale business operations cease to exist with no upper class to initiate and run such operations? It's almost enough to make you piss your pants.
- "My children will live better than I did"
This has been the case in most developed countries for a number of generations now. The standard of living keeps increasing, and life keeps getting better. What will happen when it gets too good? Will we all become lazy until society deteriorates? Will we rival the common idea of heaven and have Mr. Insert-Diety-Here smite us into oblivion?
- Piracy protection... built into our hard drives
Ok, maybe this one doesn't make me think "Holy shit, I'm scared!" but more of a "Holy shit, that sucks!" I reformat more often than I eat, it seems. If I can only copy files a number of times, what will happen to my data?
- Everything2 might eventually end!
Ok, maybe I'm not scared of this at all, but I had to throw it in to appear wildly sexy and trendy so I can buy a pimping outfit with my upvotes.