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Comment by Benjamin_Dobell | Hacker News Reader

> The propranolol must be given within roughly an hour before to 1 hour after therapeutic reactivation of the fear memory to be effective. [...] when subjects were rechallenged 12 hours after taking propranolol the previous day – that is, after a night’s sleep – the fear memory was gone

Oh wow, I'd be keen to give it a go:

1. Standing next to an edge of a tall building.

2. In a tightly enclosed space.

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The idea of not having a fear of heights is generating a mild anxiety in me.

I understand you'll still have a healthy amount of fear when in dangerous situations, but not a crippling fear.

I believe normal people like me are still wary of danger, and even have physical responses (tensing up, moving gingerly, holding your breath) when under the illusion of danger even when logically knowing there's very little danger, such as when standing on a transparent balcony floor or walkway of a very very tall building, or preparing for a drop from a tall roller coaster. I think that's all the physiological response one needs without getting psychologically crippled, paralyzed, making rash decisions, or just generally having a bad time when presented with these situations.

Having tried propranolol, I still had the same amount of fear but without physical manifestations of it like shaky hands or excessive sweating.

Yeah, but that just makes one careful. On the other hand, not being able to climb a ladder, be too close to a window on the 3rd floor, or other such things would suck. You can then keep the knowledge that some heights are dangerous without actually having the fear.

Same, I lost many many fears over the years (I now help spiders go back to safe places instead of screaming in terror). But vertigo is still one that blanks my mind entirely

3. Approaching hot girls.

just wear a liquid cooling vest

And a IR reflective suit, works every time

Or just go back to the 90s and tell yourself that, no matter how cool Hypercolor shirts are in advertisements, they won't actually make YOU cool, and nobody needs a garment that draws additional attention to their sweaty armpits.

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