“Have you ever wondered what this world would be like if human beings had no fear? Consider how human history might have differed through the unbridled expansion of a fear-free homo-sapiens.

No, not the reckless fearlessness of the typical adrenalin junkie, some of whom won’t hesitate to skydive or go base-jumping but are terrified of relationships, and forty-hour workweeks.

Instead, consider the calm and dignified fearlessness found among the Samurai warrior class and the ancient Spartan culture, a fearlessness that stems first from the keen awareness of our inevitable demise, and secondly from a profound reverence for our…