What is fear?
“Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. Do not misunderstand me. Danger is very real. But fear is a choice.”
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After Earth
Google define Fear wrote: |
an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
(YouTube video) what is fear
Fear - Wikipedia
Fear can be learned by experiencing or watching a frightening traumatic accident.
Fear as a survival method wrote: |
Because early humans that were quick to fear dangerous situations were more likely to survive and reproduce, preparedness is theorized to be a genetic effect that is the result of natural selection
In humans and animals, fear is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Thus fear has been judged as rational or appropriate and irrational or inappropriate. An irrational fear is called a phobia.
The fear response serves survival by generating appropriate behavioral responses, as it has been preserved throughout evolution.
^Is that necessary? What about being conscious and using logic?
The Yale philosopher Shelly Kagan examined fear of death in a 2007 Yale open course [8] by examining the following questions: Is fear of death a reasonable appropriate response? What conditions are required and what are appropriate conditions for feeling fear of death? What is meant by fear, and how much fear is appropriate? According to Kagan for fear in general to make sense, three conditions should be met: the object of fear needs to be "something bad", there needs to be a non-negligible chance of the bad state of affairs to happen, and there needs to be some uncertainty about the bad state of affairs. The amount of fear should be appropriate to the size of "the bad". If the 3 conditions aren't met, fear is an inappropriate emotion. He argues, that death does not meet the first two criteria, even if death is a "deprivation of good things" and even if one believes in a painful afterlife. Because death is certain, it also does not meet the third criteria, but he grants that the unpredictability of when one dies may be cause to a sense of fear.
FEAR IS NOT REAL (FEAR IS A CHOICE)
The moment we see that our own deepest, darkest fears are 100% made of thought, we open up the space in our minds for our innate health, wisdom, and well-being to come through.
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Debating the "realness" of fear with a buddy and led to some more research. After our debate and my research I have a different view and am now "pending". What our your views on the subject.