1 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: /r/philosophy Open Discussion Thread | January 27, 2020
Yes! Very interesting. I've always hold the thought that we only fear things that might hurt us, but I now see that this is an incomplete definition. There needs to be an element of trying to control, because fear means you try to get away from the source. I think that if we don't try, then there would be no fear.
Secondly, it also depends on the level of control we experience. If we feel in complete control, then the hurtful outcome can just be avoided, so fear is not needed.
To summarize, I believe there are 3 conditions for fear: -There is a threat -There is a incomplete amount of control -There is a trying to control
So in the analogy of talking to a girl, if you just completely gave up on trying to get her to perceive you a certain way, your feeling of fear would diminish to 0. Similarly, if you increased the amount of control you have over the situation by learning social techniques your fear would also diminish. Lastly, if you saw the rejection of her not as a threat to your own self-worth or reputation, there would also be no fear.
What do you guys think?
Comment by Darkmatter0051 at 30/01/2020 at 18:21 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I would agree with your two later points, however for the former, I would say that rather than threat it might be the how emotionally invested we are for the outcome to be the one we have created in our mind. And it also comes down to the hope and anticipation. If you have no hope but don’t care either and has totally accepted the arbitrariness of reality, a nihilist, then you don’t have anxiety, but if you are optimistic you still have hope for things to turn out into the ideal one but also have the realization that it might not happen, hence have anxiety. And if your a pessimist, you have no hope at all, and have totally accepted the lack of control, however you still want things to be in the way you envisioned, lets say you actually have accepted the fact but haven’t been able to embrace it, hence gives rise to anxiety.