I think what society's been doing is teaching us not to do that, but to rely on external things. You rely on a little bit of equipment, but it's mostly yourself. Your own decisions and feelings and being at that place at that time. Fear keeps you alive. For me, it can be very important because if you look down in a serious situation, you want to know where you're going to land, or put in another piece of protection or downclimb.
Fear is a good indicator.
Sometimes you might feel fear that is unreasonable and you have to say, 'Okay, I'm okay' and keep going. It's a red flag and I can either focus and get past that situation or I can go down. Many people think climbers are crazy. It comes from people who don't know what climbing is all about. People who understand climbing know it's a pretty controlled environment.