There is within each of us a deep, almost primitive fear of the darkness. You remember how it was as little children when we were afraid of the dark and needed a night-light, or someone to come and reassure us. Most of us outgrow this, but sometimes something happens to remind us that the fear is still there. If you ever have been caught between floors in a dark elevator during a power failure you know something of the overwhelming feeling of panic and terror total darkness can cause. In his book, “Alone,” the explorer Admiral Richard E. Byrd contends that there is nothing more conducive to panic than the loss of sight. He describes what happened to a member of his expeditionary party when their plane crashed:
I shall never forget the agony in Floyd Bennett’s voice when we pulled him terribly smashed up from the debris of our crash landing. “I’m done for,” he whispered. “I can’t see anything.”
We don’t…
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