Fear

So there was no fear because thought never stepped in and waved its ugly head, right?

So fear is thought, is it not? If we didn't have thought, like you didn't, there would be no fear.

Do you think it is possible to rid ourselves of the fears that hamper us in our daily life: fear of losing the house, job, wife, fear of dying, being hurt...?

Hi Mike!

To sum it up - Fear is the "Not Knowing".

Have the best of Sundays, my friend.
Mark...

Some fears are quite instinctual and you sometimes have to try to figure out what it is exactly that you're afraid of. Often you come up with the wrong answer; that doesn't make your fear any less real.

Your child is in a burning house. The reality is that your child could die and THAT is your fear. It's KNOWING your child is in there, not THINKING it.

How can you know something without thought?

I think those things are anxieties rather than fears.

I do distinguish between fear and anxiety.

I see fear as an instinctual, innate, emotional reaction to an identifiable real, present, immediate environmental threat or danger. Muscle tension, increased heart rate, and shortness of breath are a few of the physiological symptoms associated with a fear response.

Anxiety can be a learned reaction, causing one to have an anticipatory fear response, although the danger is not immediately present, or perhaps even known. Thinking about what might happen if..., and then feeling some of the physiological manifestations of fear, is an example of anxiety. Phobias would be another example of anxiety. Anxiety tends to be a more vague and diffuse sense of apprehension than fear. Fear generally is an immediate emotional response to a specific stimulus we perceive as being extremely dangerous.

Our experience of both fear and anxiety contribute to our survival skills. Fear would cause me to run from a burning building to save my life. If I burn my hand on a stove, anxiety about that happening again will make me more careful. However, while fear might serve a generally useful function, because it motivates behaviors to escape an actually dangerous situation, that is not always the case with anxiety. Anxiety, in the form of obsessions and compulsions, phobias, and unwarranted or unnecessary avoidance behaviors, can be quite dysfunctional and even debilitating.

Because anxiety is generally a learned response, it can also be unlearned. So the types of "fears" Transcend mentions, which I consider to be anxieties, could be unlearned or certainly better controlled. If worrying helps one to be better prepared for something we can anticipate, that would be good. Just worrying about things we cannot realistically control, really serves no useful purpose and is mainly a waste of energy. That sort of "self-imposed" anxiety is an unnecessary burden we can, and should, try to rid ourselves of, or learn how to manage.

Hi Mike!

Yes, of course. As for property loss - Never exceed your means. As for job - Never put all your eggs in one basket. As for wife - Don't marry, or don't marry the wrong girl. As for fear of getting hurt - Don't take risks. As for dying - Don't believe in death.

How are you, my friend? Everything well?

Mark...

A four letter word that is worth no less than 7 points in scrabble.
R
T

I'm very well, Mark, thanks.

I ask the question about fear, not because I am in fear of something in particular - though it would be a lie to say I am totally fearless, as I'm sure is the same with you and everyone else- but more of a general wondering about the subject.

I hope you are ok, too, my friend.

Mike

So fear is just a word to you? You are not in fear of anything?

Anxiety is a by-product of fear. You can't have anxiety without fear. A phobia isn't an anxiety, it's an irrational fear; one may feel anxious as a result though, yes?

You say it is a learned response? So I need to learn to move out of the way of a moving truck, isn't this just a reactionary response?

I in no way indicated I feared nothing or that it was just a word. I only added a trivial and yet correct answer.

The nature of what fear is, probably shouldn't be generalized. Generalizing any human experience is probably a bad idea.

A
R
T

It's not generalising. That infers opinions: I am stating fact.

You're asking for input or you're telling people what fear is? If I recall your first post, you asked what fear is.

Are you asking or have I entered your classroom?
R
T

Donnie Darko Fan?

A
R
T

At that moment, I did not begin thinking in words. I just drew out my stainless steel mirror .44 revolver,
whereupon the offenders departed apace.
I had as much time as I wanted to think in words after thay 'd gone somewhere else.




Fear is an emotion.
It is not necessarily expressed in words, tho that is also possible.






I shoud take some time to adequately consider that question b4 answering.





David

It is a fact that many classrooms use the Socratic Method.





David

No, I am differentiating between fear and anxiety. For me, it's a useful distinction, but others might not feel the same way.

Fear is an instinctual, unlearned emotional response to a known, present, immediate danger. It does produce a "fight or flight" response, as a survival mechanism--there is an actual danger one must escape from or avoid.

Anxiety is a learned anticipatory fear response in situations where the danger might not actually be present, or even known. There is no present threat or danger to one's life or well being. Just thinking about a potential threat or adverse consequence can generate anxiety.

Both fear and anxiety produce similar physiological responses in the body.

A phobia is a learned anxiety response. No one is born with phobias.

Most of the time, we feel anxiety rather than fear. We are not actually in situations of physical danger, but our bodies react as if we are. Our anxieties are generated less by physical threats and more by social consequences, or the anticipation of negative social consequences--loss of security or status, anticipation of rejection, humiliation, abandonment, shame etc. All of these sorts of anxieties are learned responses.

I think the innate fear response helps us to survive. Our capacity to feel anxiety helps us to function as social beings. Both fear and anxiety can overwhelm and result in dysfunction.

What I find interesting is looking at people who are risk takers. Particularly those people who seek out physical dangers and attempt to master them. Watching the last winter Olympics, I was really impressed with the apparent "fearlessness" of many of the athletes in high speed events.

I'm asking.

I'm not teaching anything. I'm far too unqualified, hence the question. I was stating the facts I had gathered.

What is an emotion? Isn't that thought?

Phobias can be inherited too, but that's irrelevant.

The point here is that the very word fear has stopped us from discussing what it is. Because fear itself isn't a word is it?