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I'm not at all sure where you get the idea that fear tells one to not attack--have you never heard of cornered animals becoming viciously aggressive? Or humans,

I'm not at all sure where you get the idea that fear tells one to not attack--have you never heard of cornered animals becoming viciously aggressive? Or humans, for that matter? You even contradict yourself, acting as though fear is an iron lock around your neck, and then noting that people do not respond to fear with subservience (which you seem to conflate with fear). I'm starting to wonder about your mental state, as well. You seem to be very focused on direct connections between emotion and full-on mental illness--all anger is violence, all fear is crippling phobia, all sadness is unending depression, at least to you. I can only guess at what led to these conclusions.

sridca 11y ago
First of all it wasn't me who wrote fear tells one what to do or not, it was you. Which is why I put the word "tells" in scare quotes. What you are referring to, in that first paragraph of yours, is the role of fear in moral conditioning. The fear-conditioning instilled by your parents, peers, society via the 'stick' in the 'carrot and stick' based socialization. Unless they are a sociopath one is taught from an early age not to kill, maim or wound (among other principles) one's fellow humans, and where such fear-based socialization fails to work (because -- and this was the key point inferred above -- fear ultimately doesn't work in the modern world), the police-force with their license to kill takes over. > I'm starting to wonder about your mental state, as well. Your beating around the bush, via rephrasing that "you astounding idiot" insult, this time isn't going to change the fact that you'd rather go ad hominem than engage with rational discussion ... speaking of which, it may be apposite to point out that it was you who deemed human intelligence to be insufficient when it comes to such a simple act of not recklessly fooling around with dangerous creatures, to wit: <quote> dawnbreez: The point is that the fear-response tells you to not play with the tiger, you astounding idiot. <endquote> > You seem to be very focused on direct connections between emotion and full-on mental illness--all anger is violence, all fear is crippling phobia, all sadness is unending depression, at least to you. I can only guess at what led to these conclusions. Guess and wonder what you will ... meanwhile the original query, asked 22 hours ago, is yet to be answered: <quote> sridca: Name one instance of sensibility in retaining fear-response in this modern world. <endquote>
dawnbreez 11y ago
Once again, the reply button is missing, so to give the answer of where fear responses are necessary in the modern world: A large fire. An angry tiger. A busy street. All of these are situations where a particular response--namely, distancing oneself from the threat--makes survival much more likely. Fear happens to produce that response, in a much faster way than higher-level cognitive processes, even in children who haven't got enough experience to reason about the danger. Also, seriously, get a therapist. It's been shown in psychological studies that trying to suppress emotions (of any kind) tends to lead to depression.
- sridca 11y ago
  I'm well aware of fear producing a faster/quick instinctual response than higher-level cognitive processes, however what you seem to be unaware of is the fact that this difference (in terms of milliseconds, actually, according to the research by Mr. Joseph LeDoux) is quite negligible to be of practical use in the modern world. Furthermore, fear in such instances more often than not introduces more harm than otherwise as it hampers clear thinking that is essential to successfully come out of those dangers. The list of accidents and deaths caused by human stampedes and crushes should surely give you a pause before you reach for the keyboard once again to defend the much-cherished fear and introduce ever more carefully crafted denigrations. Lastly, there is a distinction between fear itself (the emotion/passion) and the reflex action, and that being without fear doesn't necessarily get rid of the reflex action which is indeed useful in avoiding danger, especially on those situations you mention. As for "children who haven't got enough experience to reason about the danger" - that is besides the point as this discussion is pertaining to adults. > Also, seriously, get a therapist. It's been shown in psychological studies that trying to suppress emotions (of any kind) tends to lead to depression. As suppression and repression (a hallmark of such practices as Vipassana and Stoicism, which HN is known to be fond of) are at much lower levels than normal in this body, your ill-informed and unsolicited suggestion to "get a therapist," stemming as it does from your "you astounding idiot" insult, is cast aside in the waste bin where it rightfully belongs. Meanwhile here is an useful word for you: <quote> projection |prəˈjekSH(ə)n| noun • the unconscious transfer of one's own desires or emotions to another person: we protect the self by a number of defense mechanisms, including repression and projection. <endquote>

sridca 11y ago

First of all it wasn't me who wrote fear tells one what to do or not, it was you. Which is why I put the word "tells" in scare quotes. What you are referring to, in that first paragraph of yours, is the role of fear in moral conditioning. The fear-conditioning instilled by your parents, peers, society via the 'stick' in the 'carrot and stick' based socialization. Unless they are a sociopath one is taught from an early age not to kill, maim or wound (among other principles) one's fellow humans, and where such fear-based socialization fails to work (because -- and this was the key point inferred above -- fear ultimately doesn't work in the modern world), the police-force with their license to kill takes over. > I'm starting to wonder about your mental state, as well. Your beating around the bush, via rephrasing that "you astounding idiot" insult, this time isn't going to change the fact that you'd rather go ad hominem than engage with rational discussion ... speaking of which, it may be apposite to point out that it was you who deemed human intelligence to be insufficient when it comes to such a simple act of not recklessly fooling around with dangerous creatures, to wit: <quote> dawnbreez: The point is that the fear-response tells you to not play with the tiger, you astounding idiot. <endquote> > You seem to be very focused on direct connections between emotion and full-on mental illness--all anger is violence, all fear is crippling phobia, all sadness is unending depression, at least to you. I can only guess at what led to these conclusions. Guess and wonder what you will ... meanwhile the original query, asked 22 hours ago, is yet to be answered: <quote> sridca: Name one instance of sensibility in retaining fear-response in this modern world. <endquote>

dawnbreez 11y ago

Once again, the reply button is missing, so to give the answer of where fear responses are necessary in the modern world: A large fire. An angry tiger. A busy street. All of these are situations where a particular response--namely, distancing oneself from the threat--makes survival much more likely. Fear happens to produce that response, in a much faster way than higher-level cognitive processes, even in children who haven't got enough experience to reason about the danger. Also, seriously, get a therapist. It's been shown in psychological studies that trying to suppress emotions (of any kind) tends to lead to depression.

sridca 11y ago
I'm well aware of fear producing a faster/quick instinctual response than higher-level cognitive processes, however what you seem to be unaware of is the fact that this difference (in terms of milliseconds, actually, according to the research by Mr. Joseph LeDoux) is quite negligible to be of practical use in the modern world. Furthermore, fear in such instances more often than not introduces more harm than otherwise as it hampers clear thinking that is essential to successfully come out of those dangers. The list of accidents and deaths caused by human stampedes and crushes should surely give you a pause before you reach for the keyboard once again to defend the much-cherished fear and introduce ever more carefully crafted denigrations. Lastly, there is a distinction between fear itself (the emotion/passion) and the reflex action, and that being without fear doesn't necessarily get rid of the reflex action which is indeed useful in avoiding danger, especially on those situations you mention. As for "children who haven't got enough experience to reason about the danger" - that is besides the point as this discussion is pertaining to adults. > Also, seriously, get a therapist. It's been shown in psychological studies that trying to suppress emotions (of any kind) tends to lead to depression. As suppression and repression (a hallmark of such practices as Vipassana and Stoicism, which HN is known to be fond of) are at much lower levels than normal in this body, your ill-informed and unsolicited suggestion to "get a therapist," stemming as it does from your "you astounding idiot" insult, is cast aside in the waste bin where it rightfully belongs. Meanwhile here is an useful word for you: <quote> projection |prəˈjekSH(ə)n| noun • the unconscious transfer of one's own desires or emotions to another person: we protect the self by a number of defense mechanisms, including repression and projection. <endquote>