Fear of Heights

Maggie's linked to a buzzfeed page of people at great height in dangerous positions. My reaction is mixed.

There are layers of fear here.  The people who are secured in some way, on anything that looks like it would hold them after a slip, do not send me into panic.  Were I in that situation live, my imagination would run to what this would feel like if the securing device failed, and I would be in utter panic, but just looking at the picture doesn't bother me much.  Walking across a gorge, or hanging from a cliff at any height, doesn't grip me.  The people leaning outward in Toronto would be an exception.  The possible failure of the securing lines is forcibly brought home in that one.

The cliff diver doesn't bother me - I've done 2/3 that height myself (though nowhere near as pretty) into water.  The skiers and driver bother me only a bit, though they are perhaps in the most danger.

But all the unsecured people I can barely stand to even look at. Phobia is a funny thing.