Fear

Philosophy Forums Psychology and Mind
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Fear, for me, is the primary emotion.

It is the sensation of anxiety flooding the mind when it confronts its first perceptions of the world. The sensation of temporality in flux; a tenuous existence.
It precedes love because love is a product of self-consciousness, projected outward, whereas fear is a product of mere consciousness.
We can find an underlying current of fear beneath all emotions, even the ones we consider the most noble ones.

You must love your self, or an idealized version of your self, to love another, but you fear otherness or the unknown, as an intuitive reaction.

Many would be offended by this preliminary sketching but it isn’t the crux of the topic here.

Schopenhauer commented in many of his wittings that life balances between fear and boredom; with the alleviation of one the other increases.

We see many symptoms of this simple formula all around us.

We live is a very sheltered and ordered environment.
An environment some have called Apollinian, or Alexandrian if I’m not mistaken, where the system minimizes the risks and costs of human activities, of existing, and asks, in return, for total obedience.
The price for safety is your freedom. The feminine ideal.

As a result our culture is characterized by ennui, bordering on passive aloofness.

This ennui forces many to seek stimulation, or an experience of living, in extreme hobbies and in extravagant displays and in exaggerated fantasies.
Our entire western culture is one of extremes. It’s method is one of distraction and continuous stimulation: food, entertainment, fantasy.
Thinking is bad; acting is good.
Quietness is boring.

This very environment we value because it protects us from a reality we have little experience with and so feel all the more afraid of. It is what makes us dissatisfied with simple sexual encounters, making sexual fantasies and pornographic inflation a part of our ‘civilized’ condition; it is what leads us to drugs and alcohol, or towards the pursuit of wealth or to games producing a fantasy world that triggers primordial fears and anxieties…and we are entertained by our experience of what our mind has evolved to cope with while we remain comfortably safe behind our screens, growing softer and more dissatisfied with every passing moment.

And we wonder…“What is missing?” finding some solace in imagined gods and Utopian ideals.

Some go a little further and engage in sports with a slight risk, offering them, and the spectator, the illusion that they’re in touch with a primal, more genuine world, our entire being has evolved to exist within.
Ultimate fighting championships and boxing and skydiving etc. lead us all the way to the edge but retain the safety of a system of rules and practices that are there to catch us if we fall or save us if we lose or heal us when we make a mistake.

The fighter enters the rink, displaying his machismo and prowess, feeling his blood churn with the ecstasy of a wildness he is sheltered against, knowing, in the back of his mind, that there’s a referee there ready to jump in and save him from the worse and that the rules prevent the ultimate cost due to a possible defeat.

Popular movies depict savagery violence, sometimes to the point of grotesque imagery, and we sit enthralled, afraid and yet attracted by the spectacle of a reality we are protected from.

In the metaphors we perceive deeper truths we would like to deny but cannot.

For instance the metaphor of the ‘living dead’ a symbol of the known being alien in its mindless need. Instinct unleashed from reason and cultural restraints.
Our neighbor becomes a monster we recognize, from his tattered clothes, but cannot relate back to the original. His face seems different; ugly.
The subconscious knows that much of civil behavior is but a farce hiding primal desires and egotistical need, and we are frightened by this; we know that there’s a small cork bottling up the beast.

Or the metaphor of the totally alien; the unknown, the otherness, threatening our peace of mind with its different values and desires.

Or the metaphor of the vampire, the enemy that lurks within. The known that is still unknown.
Weakness instinctively recognizing its vulnerability in relation to strength when and if cultural restraints or the cover of darkness cannot come to their aid.
Stupidity finding intelligence threatening and brutal but at the same time attractive and mysterious.

A similar effect was produced by the Hannibal Lecter character in Silence of the Lambs. The genius unrestricted by the morality of the masses, exploiting and ravaging their simplicity.
Many found the character irresistible, even if they were abhorred by his actions.

The genre of horror films, in general, is one that I never got into but I now find fascinating as a sociological phenomenon exposing many hidden existential anxieties and inegalitarian fears.

Can anyone else find any other correlations between mythological entities on film and the real world?

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yes

3

Evasive, as always.

What have you got to fear, but…?

From your signature I see you’ve tasted the attraction.

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Often times I have wondered why fame in of itself is so attractive. In light of your idea that fear is the basic primary emotion, it makes sense. After all, when famous, we feel ourselves to have some value in the eyes of others, and as such feel we posses a higher level of protection, because, clearly people seek to protect and that which they value. If, say, the Earth were to blow up tomorrow, and a ship with people were to leave and survive on, it is certain that those who of us thought to have some value would be the ones to go. Off course, such an event as I proposed is unlikely, though variations of it are. Throughout times of conflict, it is rare that we see a person of fame, or in other words of worth or of some perceived value to society, perish in the conflict.

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I am not a fan of horror films and the last one I saw was about 2 years ago (The Descent). It is all about the known vs. unknown. (though there are things that can be known, but not understood, i.e, the incomprehensible things of irrational or surreal nature).
The consciousness defeats “dark creatures” and validates its own self by understanding them (the unknown becomes the known, or at least, labeled). When one understands, the fear diminishes, and one achieves at least some control over the unknown. However, most do not want to actually go into the dark world of the unknown and those who do either lose their mind or become one of “them”. If light submerges into darkness (surrenders to it), it is eventually absorbed and becomes darkness. In boredom, it is not so much an ennui as it is a feeling of an increasing wariness and apprehension. So people choose to run from the unknown (or incomprehensible), lest they become “mad”.

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You asked if I could and I said yes. Now, maybe, would have been evasive.

All characters in movies or books are analogous to life. Their situation reflect subconcious and unconcious fears and desires. From the first story on down to the last story each gives us lessons if we look past the entertainment. From Westerns to love to horror. Even soap operas can teach us, if we are willing to look. We see into others by watching movies or reading, we see ourselves. Humanity’s greatest fear is to be permanently alone and lost. We would rather face a monster then to permanently by ourself. This is one of the deepest things we see in characters if we are honest.

Oh and I like Hannibal because the character is honest. What sort of people were his victims? Do you recall?

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The bullies, dear.

I asked you to draw the outlines.

Find a fantasy figure and connect him/her back to the real world.
show me where this character is rooted and what this character symbolizes.
You know, try to be interesting.

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Fear is a powerful emotion.

It is a motivator and a conqueror.

In many ways one has to wonder in awe of its instinctual significance.

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And what does your avatar symbolize?

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I like to think of it as a disgruntled person with a axe to grind.

Does it represent fear? Sure.

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It’s more than this.
If you couple it with your earlier avatar one can draw some psychological inferences.

Sorry I’m analytical by nature.

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Perhaps in a way I like to think of it as what I may indeed become should the world keep obstructing my own individual will to power.

Jungian archetypes.

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And intent.
What anger you hide.

Such repressed self.
You need a target.

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Things are already planned out should the event transpire.

Human constructed time has the weight of it now on its shoulders with myself in the background waiting its decision.

When the dice of time are thrown I shall know what needs to be done.

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The horror genre of movies… some are actually based on fact, and what you see is what you get: while others are based on fiction and fantasy (The Lost Boys, Jeepers Creepers etc) I’ve always seen these in particular: as correlating to a state of human subconscience that we may not be aware of / past legacies that now serve no purpose, perhaps.

I cannot stomach the former, but much prefer the latter: as they feed the imagination - they tend to have a good cast, great sound track , and are a visual feast for all the senses / not just an out and out massacre of a film.

Buffy, Angel, and Charmed etc. are also metaphors for life, but in an encoded form: via subconscious stimuli disguised as entertainment - nothing wrong with that!

Sci-fi also promotes fear: the fear of some unknown being causing devastation and destruction - Starship Troopers, Bladerunner, I-robot, Transformers, etc - you can’t beat good sci-fi, but bad sci-fi: especially the early 80s shit, boring crap!

The line ‘Billy aint scared of no man’ from the movie ‘Predator’ is the most memorable line from any movie, for me: because it signifies the moment when the soldiers realise that what they are dealing with ‘aint no man’.

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Fear of the unknown.

We fear what we don’t understand. What we don’t understand is unpredictable.

Should we fear terrorists after we have understood them? Hum…I think it’s easier for most to not try to understand the unknown.

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Allright how about two since they both are the same character with just a few variances and You are very familiar with both I am sure;

Superman and Hannibal. Both are heros and both have the same sort of story.

Both ripped from their families as children and left alone with merely the vestiges of their previous life.Both families were killed by evil people.
Superman was left alone in a cold spaceship with images of his family.
Hannibal was forced to live in his family’s castle as the lowest of the low. alone and with out warmth of family and humanity, both boys suffered tremendous fear and lonliness until rescued by others. The Kents and Hannibal’s Aunt in Law.

Both families saw that their wards were different. Both families gave they wards the means and upbringing to make use of their difference. Both families taught the boys to mask their differences.
And both families knew the boys needed to right injustices or fight the bullys that made them suffer.

Superman and hannibal both lived hidden behind secret identies in order to keep others safe from bullys. Bullys make people be lost and alone.

I put it to you Satyr, that Hannibal was less cruel to his victims then Superman was. Hannibal dispatched the bullys to the afterlife, minimizing their suffering and if you recall the old ways of tribes, you eat your enemy in order to make their strength and them a part of you. Which is why he ate parts of his victims. He kept them from ever being totally lost and alone.

Superman the crueler of the two sent his vctims to harsh bullys and made them live lost and alone in cold cells bereft of humanity. He did this after having it done to him… I ask you which one was the crueler? Superman no doubt of it.

They both hid from the law. They both broke laws in order to do their deeds. Yet the cruelest of the two is hailed as a hero the other a villian.

We hide our selves from others in order to fit in as they did. We must not be different from others. We punish those that would make a person be lost and alone. We despise and fear the darkness of loss, we know it would change what we are. Superman and Hannibal are us at our finest and our worst, fighting to keep others safe so that we are not alone and lost. Were they altruistic? No, both did what they did in order to be with people. Selfish reasons drove both. We behave in society as good citizens for selfish reasons as they did.

Is this enough or do you need more?

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Al Queda Training Manual.
Chapter 2.6 and 4, respectively.

2.6-Keeping Secrets and Concealing Information

[This secrecy should be used] even with the closest people, for deceiving the enemies is not easy. Allah says, “Even though their plots were such that as to shake the hills! [Koranic verse].” Allah’s messenger -God bless and keep him -says, "Seek Allah’s help in doing your affairs in secrecy.” It was said in the proverbs, “The hearts of freemen are the tombs of secrets” and “Moslems’ secrecy is faithfulness, and talking about it is faithlessness.” [Mohammed] -God bless and keep him -used to keep work secrets from the closest people, even from his wife A’isha-may Allah’s grace be on her.

Ch. 4. Apartment Buildings-Hiding

Choosing the apartment carefully as far as the location, the size for the work necessary (meetings, storage, arms, fugitives, work preparation).

  1. It is preferable to rent apartments on the ground floor to facilitate escape and digging of trenches.
  2. Preparing secret locations in the apartment for securing documents, records, arms, and other important items.
  3. Preparing ways of vacating the apartment in case of a surprise attack (stands, wooden ladders).
  4. Under no circumstances should any one know about the apartment except those who use it.
  5. Providing the necessary cover for the people who frequent the apartment (students, workers, employees, etc.)
  6. Avoiding seclusion and isolation from the population and refraining from going to the apartment at suspicious times.
  7. It is preferable to rent these apartments using false names, appropriate cover, and non-Moslem appearance.
  8. A single brother should not rent more than one apartment in the same area, from the same agent, or using the same rental office.
  9. Care should be exercised not to rent apartments that are known to the security apparatus [such as] those used for immoral or prior Jihad activities.
  10. Avoiding police stations and government buildings. Apartments should not be rented near those places.
  11. When renting these apartments, one should avoid isolated or deserted locations so the enemy would not be able to catch those living there easily.
  12. It is preferable to rent apartments in newly developed areas where people do not know one another. Usually, in older quarters people know one another and strangers are easily identified, especially since these quarters have many informers.
  13. Ensuring that there is has been no surveillance prior to the members entering the apartment.
  14. Agreement among those living in the apartment on special ways of knocking on the door and special signs prior to entry into the building’s main gate to indicate to those who wish to enter that the place is safe and not being monitored. Such signs include hanging out a towel, opening a curtain, placing a cushion in a special way, etc.
  15. If there is a telephone in the apartment, calls should be answered in an agreed-upon manner among those who use the apartment. That would prevent mistakes that would, otherwise, lead to revealing the names and nature of the occupants.
  16. For apartments, replacing the locks and keys with new ones. As for the other entities (camps,shops, mosques), appropriate security precautions should be taken depending on the entity’s importance and role in the work.
  17. Apartments used for undercover work should not be visible from higher apartments in order not to expose the nature of the work.
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Now that I have insight on Al Queda, I feel more prepared and less fearful.

:smiley:

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