Survival, Pain, Joy, Primodial - The Uncontrollable Scream.

I heard a sound that stopped me in my tracks today. Suddenly my entire body froze. It was down right cold outside, but my body became instantly drenched in sweat. My eyes and ears without thought went into radar mode.

It was the blood-curdling scream of a child almost 3/4 of a mile away. Once I was sure that it was indeed a child, I took off in that direction. Again without thought, working off sheer adrenaline.

Thank God, before I got half way to the child, I realized that it was not in danger. She had just had her first encounter with the neighbor's cow, that had gotten loose again.

It was an experience fraught with a thousand emotions in a blink of an eye, but it left me with this question. Why do we scream?

I know the reason for the autonomic response, but it seems to be one of the primordial responses that has stuck around. It just puzzles me to why we do this, why it is still useful, other than a way for kids to give old folks heart attacks.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Our children don't need to scream, to scare us.

"Daddy, I'm pregnant"... heart attack

"Daddy, I am a heroin addict"... stroke

"Daddy, I am a liberal"... NDE

Edit to add: It isn't just our kids... it is every life charged to us. We have dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, goats and a lamb. When they are in distress, their cries will wake me out of a deep sleep... at any hour. My wife and I are both retired, and our kids are grown... we have an emotional attachment to all of our animals that is every bit as tangible... and when they are stressed, we know it...

Is it a parental instinct, or a caretaker instinct?

Makes ya wonder...

originally posted by: madmac5150


Our children don't need to scream, to scare us.

"Daddy, I'm pregnant"... heart attack

"Daddy, I am a heroin addict"... stroke

"Daddy, I am a liberal"... NDE

Your worst nightmares

Obviously you have never heard a rabbit caught by a stoat. A very, very blood curdling scream.

a reply to: crayzeed
I live in the woods. I am familiar with animal screams and screeches. I think I have a good understanding of why we scream when we are hurt, fear of being hurt, and for other primordial survival reasons.

I guess being an elderly female with strong maternal instincts, I automatically responded to the scream of a child. I don't know how effective I would have been if the child was in danger, and because I had spent the day before at a park where children were running around playing in the bounce houses, running, and "screaming".

I understand the survival aspect of screaming, I just wonder why screaming seems to be a display of fear and of joy. I wonder why? I think I have too much time on my hands.