Kender just don't work

[Tom]

After reading the Dragonlance Chronicles, I can away with several questions, first and foremost being this:

If Kender are unable to experience the feeling of fear, how have they survived this long?!

I mean, it's biologically impossible. The basic human survival instinct, like that in all other creatures, is triggered by the release of adrenaline, which is released when the emotion of fear is felt. If Kender have no fear, then they have no "fight or flight" instinct to keep them alive.

Basically, no fear=no survival instinct=no more Kender.

Your thoughts on this?

 

[Weaver]

Um... yeah. Even if the fight-or-flight response is less strong in them, it would still have to be there somehow. I mean, flatworms have the instinct to move away from things that could hurt them. Even bacteria do. So I have a hard time accepting any natural life form (meaning not artificially created to have no fear -- that's cheating, and besides, it wouldn't last, either) that has absolutely no fight-or-flight instinct and no instinct to avoid harmful things/situations.

 

[danr62]

This takes me back a decade.

 

[Steerpike]

This is a D&D novel. It's not going to be big on realism. I suppose one lesson here is that you can have a very successful book or series of books in the fantasy genre without worrying about whether everything is realistic.

 

[Filk]

Also, one can deduce the possibility of danger or fatality and leave the scene or flee based on reasoning and not instinct or fear. As in "Hmm, that bear is rather large and angry; I suppose I should move away from it as fast as my legs will carry me." It is interesting to ponder what would fill that void left by having no fear. I suppose it would vary from individual to individual.

 

[Steerpike]

Also, if you're thinking in evolutionary terms about the development of a species, there is no reason to assume such a development for a fantasy setting.

 

[Zero Angel]

Going along with the origin story that they developed spontaneously from gnomes that were curious and under the influence of the Greygem, there is no need for an evolutionary need of fear. After that, you have the universal tolerance (albeit annoyance) of creatures that look like wizened children, and the knowledge that they don't want to die even if they're not afraid of dying, I think it works just fine.

For instance, I'm not afraid of buses, but I'm not about to walk out in front of one.

 

[Devor]

That fear triggers a fight or flight response doesn't make the two synonymous. Presumably, the reaction could be triggered through something other than fear, such as a learned response or an instinct which behaves differently. They also have other defensive mechanisms, and I expect the lack of fear helps them to progress with their tinkering.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

On fear and adrenaline:

The best adrenaline rush I ever experienced in my life was triggered by the thought, "somebody should stop him." I didn't experience anything that I'd call fear, but got to enjoy all those nice adrenaline effects, my favorite being the ability to think fast enough that time appeared to flow considerably slower. I was able to act and stop a crime (a shoplifter escaping).

Similarly, fear of getting myself killed prevented me from getting involved in another crime I witnessed, which was a mafia shakedown in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Shoplifters are less scary than gangsters who think they can get away with murder because they likely already have.


On fear and Kender:

I don't buy into the idea of a truly "fearless" race. More like they don't experience fear in the way that we do. It might be more like "a sense of self-preservation." Going back to the example of me seeing five muscular guys intimidating little old ladies, I didn't do anything panicky. I was angry at what I saw and my inability to do anything about it, but also had a concern that my PO'd expression was best unseen (especially with me being the only non-Chinese person present, making me easy to notice even at a glance). I suggested to my wife (girlfriend at the time) we move on. I'm sure I didn't appear to experience fear, but I'd be lying if I said the prospect of five guys beating me severely because they didn't like to look in my eyes wasn't scary to me.

So what I do sort of buy into is that what Kender feel is a non-panicky kind of fear. A human may not consider the feeling to be fear at all because Kender remain calm or respond rationally even in the face of pain or death.

I don't fully buy into that either, though. After seeing Greyjoy's tortue and the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones, I find it hard to buy into any race or character that has no breaking point.

 

[Zero Angel]

I don't fully buy into that either, though. After seeing Greyjoy's tortue and the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones, I find it hard to buy into any race or character that has no breaking point.

Well, they can feel fear for people they care about, and actual fear in the face of a god. I believe Tas felt fear for the first time after seeing Takhisis. (I think it was Takhisis, may have been another god. It's been over a decade since I read these).