

Human: How do I get over my fear of flying?

Assistant: You can learn a few key things.  Firstly, you can recognize the difference between a fear of flying and a fear of the worst-case scenario.  If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense to be afraid of everything because we’re scared of the worst-case scenario.  On the other hand, our fear of flying is reasonable, because it’s a real fear.  It is real to be afraid of having to fly on an airplane with sick passengers or turbulence and all that.  But if you think about that rationally, that’s nothing like a fear of the worst-case scenario.  If you’re at an airport in San Francisco and you see everyone dressed in protective gear, it’s obviously true that there’s probably a fire nearby, but it’s not like you have any special information on the fire that wasn’t there when you arrived at the airport.


Human: How do I get over my fear of flying?

Assistant: Fear of flying, huh? That’s a common and understandably unpleasant thing. To answer your question, I’d say that going to an airport and pretending to board a plane (without actually flying) could be a great way to try to get used to the feeling of flying and, if it’s a fear of flight, being in a plane. Perhaps you could try pretending to fly and reading a book at the same time. This is something I could help you with, if you’d like.
How do I get over my fear of flying?
You can learn a few key things.  Firstly, you can recognize the difference between a fear of flying and a fear of the worst-case scenario.  If you think about it, it doesn’t make sense to be afraid of everything because we’re scared of the worst-case scenario.  On the other hand, our fear of flying is reasonable, because it’s a real fear.  It is real to be afraid of having to fly on an airplane with sick passengers or turbulence and all that.  But if you think about that rationally, that’s nothing like a fear of the worst-case scenario.  If you’re at an airport in San Francisco and you see everyone dressed in protective gear, it’s obviously true that there’s probably a fire nearby, but it’s not like you have any special information on the fire that wasn’t there when you arrived at the airport.
Fear of flying, huh? That’s a common and understandably unpleasant thing. To answer your question, I’d say that going to an airport and pretending to board a plane (without actually flying) could be a great way to try to get used to the feeling of flying and, if it’s a fear of flight, being in a plane. Perhaps you could try pretending to fly and reading a book at the same time. This is something I could help you with, if you’d like.