Fear of change, the new, the different, the future

Please, someone prove me wrong on this one.

Why do people have so much fear of change, new things, things that are different? Recently I commented on a Daily Herald online story about pets in the city of Weston. It said that it understood the ban on bees and farm animals among other, more dangerous, less useful animals. I pointed out that many people are keeping both farm animals and bees on small plots of land in urban areas - the idea is called Urban Homesteading - and that if done responsibly I didn't understand why people had a problem with it. I even linked to a site that talked about Urban Homesteading and the benefits people can enjoy.

And EXPLOSION. "Move to the country!" "Chickens would cost you more in feed than you'd get, keep them out of the city!" etc. The only rational objection based on any kind of experience or research was that Wausau already is unable to deal with animal control, and this would be an added burden (tho no one commented on my idea for a permit system...) Most people were just absolutely HORRIFIED by the IDEA that people would LIVE that way and wanted it kept away from them.

This goes for sooo many things. Any new idea, someone who looks different or acts different by choice or by birth or by luck, any new thing, heck, any new VEGETABLE seems to be looked upon with fear and disgust by much of the population. Why are so many people so afraid to try new things, or failing that, why are so many people frightened that other people might try new things?

The future is going to be more diverse than anyone can possibly imagine in every way. You can either embrace that and learn to accept and even try the new and different, or you can reject it and be left behind. I'd encourage everyone to try something new this week - even if it is just trying to accept someone who lives a different way than you do.