Why are humans Afraid of the DARK?

i guess its mainly because of our fear of the unknown.

This is the good old archetype from the past: light is equal to the good, the dark-to the evil. And it`s almost the same with the conception of Yin and Yang. We are afraid that the darkness is evil. This is unknow womb what will swallow us and we will never return back.

I agree completely with cinder' as above. Although our brains have developed way beyond any animals, we disinctly lack many other natural 'gifts'. This leaves us vulnerable to the unknown, which increases in the dark. I actually quite enjoy the darkness to a degree. I love it when camping, or even dog-walking late at night when your eyes adjust to the light level and you begin to see rather well (eat your carrots kids!). It really brings your other senses alive when the noise level drops (i live near a city) and you begin to hear and smell things that you never noticed in the daylight before.

I agree with you. Another reason is that we don't see what is in the dark and those that we don't see, we also fear. Another reason could be also that we have a very rich and vivid imagination. It just takes a little darkness for us to shiver on our toes thinking that something monstrous might be lurking.

I am not afraid of the dark. I actually like it. I never turn on lights at night. I think kids become afraid of the dark because parents put night lights in their rooms when they are small. If they started out sleeping in the total darkness then they might be more comfortable in the dark.

usually we afraid of that dark when we are imagining very scared movies.And its like your minds always thinking that in the dark, you can see something like a ghost.SO sometimes we dont like to stay in dark places.And especially when were just watch some horror movies.

Im 18 and still afraid of the dark lol its pretty sad, but im not comfortable sitting/sleeping in the dark. I have gotten used to it seeing as my partner refuses to sleep with the light on. He said just get over it. For me it started when I was 5 and my sister jumped out, of my dark room, at me with a knife after watching a scary movie. Yep. That did it for me. No more dark! I dont know what triggered it for everyone else. Boogey man, security, or something else. But I think its a human emotion, fear of the unknown?

humans are creatures of sight. we dont have the great sense of smell or hearing that other animals do. and unfortunatly we do not see well at all in the dark. if you think about it..a human is most vulnerable when we are unprepared..and being in the dark leaves a human unprepared for just about everything. i think the fear of the dark is instinctual..from a time long ago when WE were the ones being hunted by nocturnal predators.

i think being human comes with a natural fear of the unknown.when the room or outside is pitch dark we are not able to see exactly what's "lurking"in the room.there's a natural tendency to simply be afraid of whatever unseen threat "might"be there.