I used the search engine, didn't find anything, searched various guides, came home empty handed.
So anyway, what's your interpretation of "The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh" that appears in the beginning of the game and in the manual? And is there an official one?

Uh. . .fear of the result of hurt, leads to fear of hurt? Too sick to articulate it, but I always thought the general idea was fairly apparent.

Post A.K.A. "don't overthink it".

Blood = life
Flesh = death

The fear of life results in the fear of death; the fear of life results in the fear of living.

I don't know why this has to be so difficult. Just look at the difference between the function of each preposition in the phrase: "of" and "for".

The fear of anything in particular naturally cultivates fear for the integrity of that which separates us from it. What need would we have to fear anything were there no skepticism as to our ability to maintain separation from it.

In a geological sense: the fear of flood tends to create fear for the levee.

In relation to captivity: The fear of the panther tends to create -- and hinges upon -- fear for its cage.

The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh.

i agree with life to lifeless

yeah, i don't think there is too much to be read into it.

1. If you are afraid of blood, then you are afraid of the people who contain it. (my main theory)

2. You are afraid of the critically wounded (a burned Alessa?)

maybe it describes alessa's fear/hate for people

"The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh."

From what I see, blood stands for something necessary to make the flesh alive.
Without blood running trough our veins, we would be nothing more than a carcass.
Blood is part of our lives, flesh too.
If we are afraid of blood, we are neglecting our own flesh, denying something that we are.
Humans are only alive because the brain keeps the blood flowing and running trough the veins, so, we are only alive because of the blood (putting aside the brain).

a few less lines:
If we keep getting freaked out with blood we'll end up neglecting ourselves.
so, The fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh.
the fear of blood (inside our body) tends to create the fear for the flesh (our own body)

anyway, this is only my opinion.
thx
Sorry for the bad english.

that was interesting i thought it most reasonable -nods- out of all posts so far

Stuff, is scary.

but then again this isnt the most hardest question its just how much you get of it

It's hard enough to keep a lot of people pretty flummoxed for the past seven years.

true true but you cant just look at the words , you got to look at the meaning

*grins* This is why I love the fandom so much. Certain people overthink every possible aspect. Thomas and Lifetolifeless pretty much put it exactly the way I've interpreted it these past years so there's no need to restate it.

well if no one ever over thought the idea then know one would actually understand so sometimes we gotta give them an applaud for those silent hill veterans

You know, in seven years I never really thought about it, but that phrase makes no sense whatsoever. Poor translation?

The only thing I can think of is this:

It has to do with Alessa's detachment and resentment towards the world as of the events of SH1, as was confirmed in the dialogue in SH3. Alessa as a child learned to fear the "blood"--as in the violence and abuse from her mother, the cult, and then from the monsters in the nightmare. This resulted in a fear of the flesh. When I think of "flesh," I think of the old Christian phrase "sins of the flesh," which has to do with love, passion, compassion. A "fear of the flesh" for Alessa is literally saying that she's without love or compassion, filled with hate and resentment.

In summation, abuse a little girl enough and she turns into a monster. Violence leads to detachment and hatred.

Blood -- war, violence, bloodshed
Flesh -- warmth, compassion, love

Of course, the physical relationship between blood and flesh, as pointed out by others , adds another dimension to the subject. Blood and flesh are interdependent -- are violence and love as well? Sounds twisted enough for Silent Hill. Sort of like the cult's god of eternal paradise is clearly an evil demon.

It makes perfect sense to me, though I can't vouch for it having been accurately translated if it has, indeed, been translated at all.

Does anyone know if this phrase even appears in the Japanese version?

The thing about the phrase is that it really doesn't have to make sense -- it's just come cold-blooded shit with which to introduce the game, the game being chock full of both blood and flesh, of course. I guess saying it makes no sense at all is rather harsh, although it certainly would not be the only translational error if it is one.

Yes. I remember talking about this at NM.