But specifically fear instincts seems strange. It makes sense to us because we’re us, but look at it more clinically: we seek out to stimulate the instinct that keeps us safe. That means that it’d doing the exact opposite of its purpose. If we seek to stimulate our fear, that means we seek to put ourselves in situations where fear is a reasonable response, which is exactly what fear was evolved to prevent.
How did this behavior develop, and how did we survive once it did?