Human emotions get the best of us during times of extreme distress, panic, anger, loneliness, etc. We are slaves to our psyche since it is our minds that control and provide our thought process, which directly relates to our own actions. Emotions occur naturally, automatically and are triggered by our surroundings and significant events that leave an impression on us.
Emotions are basic human instinct. They are subconscious warnings and reactions to certain situations and to our surroundings. A simple example is someone experiencing the death of a loved one. They feel the emotions of sadness and despair as a reaction to the death. Emotions enable humans, as well as animals, to survive. Without psychological emotions, our bodies and minds would wander aimlessly without direction, caution or cause. Fear is an especially powerful human emotion that affects everybody almost every day. It helps control society to distinguish between right and wrong, it keeps us in check, and makes us think of our actions before committing them. One instance that documents the influence fear has is the action of crossing the street…one looks both ways before doing so to prevent being hit by an automobile. It is the fear of getting injured or even dying that provides the mental caution and in turn our safety. Best put, fear helps “…you to rightly recognize and respond cautiously to impending dangers and possible threats,” (Jan Heering. How to Control Fear). Fear can help anyone recognize right from wrong and protect them but, can this same protection, this same instinct, turn around and keep us in place?
Naturalist, Charles Darwin, who was the first to explore his own theory of natural selection, observed emotional response in thousand...
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...ontrol and manipulate. A legal system is also an example of suppressing via the drastic human emotion. Laws are the support columns of a stabilitated society. They protect citizens and prevent many from committing crimes against humanity. But, they are all founded through fear. A teenager will think twice when his friends pressure him to steal from a store. He is afraid of being caught and possibly going to jail for the crime he committed.
One might state that humans may be able to overcome their emotion of fear, in turn overcoming coercion or even say that fear may cause you to act irrationally as well as rationally. This is true. As fear causes us to think before acting, it may also cause us to act without thinking in a quick, brief amount of time. And we can also overcome our fears and do something drastic or simply not succumb to coercion through refusal.
The Dangers of Fear Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worst attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point where they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous examples used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were.
“At the University of California at Irvine, experiments in rats indicate that the brain’s hormonal reaction to fear can be inhibited, softening the formation of memories and the emotions they evoke” (Baard).
Fear is a powerful emotion. Wikipedia.com describes fear as “an emotion induced by threat perceived by living entities, which causes a change in brain and organ function and ultimately change behavior, such as running away, hiding or freezing from traumatic events.”Most people tend to avoid fearful situations, not realizing that something positive may come out of the event or experience. Victor Villaseñor focuses on the topic of fear in his novel titled Burro Genius. Villaseñor demonstrates to readers how growing up he was extremely fearful of any situation. Victor also tells his readers how he turned his fear into motivation into motivation to keep going and reach his ultimate goal of becoming a published author.
Fear is an everyday emotion that the human race must face, and it can bring out the best and worst of us, but its how we choose to deal with it that truly defines us.
Through a lifespan, people will endure many stressful events and experiences. The severity of these events easily overwhelm them and as a result they will let their emotions overshadow sensible decisions. When in such an emotional state, it is common that people make impulsive decisions based off their feelings, but, this could lead to permanent consequences. Of the numerous emotions, fear predominantly is seen in times of crisis. Fear can be defined as, “An emotion of uneasiness that arises as a normal response to perceived threat that may be real or imagined” (Adamec). Fear may arise from a confrontation or from avoiding a threat, or it may come in the form of a discovery. Fear is often a direct result of one being scared due to a crisis
Ekman, P. (2009). Darwin's Contributions to Our Understanding of Emotional Expressions.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
A simple definition of the human psyche is the embodiment of the human spirit. However, when one takes a more in-depth look, it becomes much more complex than the tidy little package that the definition would infer. The psyche has a direct link to thoughts, emotions, reactions and consequences. Of these components, emotions have the most significant impact on the human essence. The way in which humans view and react to the world around them is directly linked to the conscious and subconscious feelings associated with a particular activating event. The human psyche is driven by a wide variety of emotions ranging from love, hate, anger, happiness, fear, and courage to name but only a few. Of these, fear has the power to disrupt the body and spirit in profound ways as it encompasses all emotions. Therefore, it is the strongest emotion associated with the human condition.
One of the most complex emotions in existence, fear is the primary emotion that triggers any kind of change, as it is capable of linking with any existing emotion to create entirely different lives upon lives. For any change that happens, fear is always present to turn the tide whichever way it pleases.
Fear is a potent emotional response developed by the intrinsic need to learn in order for one to better their means of self-preservation. Though often overlooked, fear is a mental construct which presents great importance in understanding an individual’s thoughts and mannerisms. Children can help scientists to better recognize how these fears emerge. The early years of life can be considered the most daunting; everything in the environment surrounding a child is fairly new, strange, and unfamiliar. In the psychological community, it is widely accepted that fears are determined from two main constituents: biological and environmental factors. Both factors play an essential role in defining fear as well as the determination of what a child may
It is believed that fear is a feeling which humans try to control, but they
Fear influences people to make irrational decisions and take extreme measures. Often times, these actions are done to protect one’s reputation. Fear causes people to lie and manipulate to those they care about in order to escape what they are scared of most. Fear of failure has caused higher levels of anxiety, and has made society put blame on each other, rather than owning up to their mistakes. Fear can also cause one to forget one’s true identity and lose one’s values. There are two options that one can take when being faced with a fear: run away from the fear, or go through it and learn a valuable lesson in the end that will make you a stronger person. Fear is a harmful emotion that everyone has to go through in order to succeed.
Aristotle once said, “Men are swayed more by fear than by reverence.” It’s generally known that fear is quite a motivator in any given situation. This is apparent in many real life situations such as the Red Scare or the Salem Witch Trials of 1962. Arthur Miller was a playwright victimized by McCarthyism in the Second Red Scare who related his experience to the Salem Witch trials. He was oppressed because he had Communist sympathies. In the midst of this oppression, he looked into the Salem Witch Trials and saw similarities to the Red Scare. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows his belief that humanity is driven by fear and self-preservation, often resulting in people abandoning their morals.
In the words of Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom” (Russell). Fear causes many problems in our lives. Fear influences many of a person’s actions and decisions. However, people usually regret the decisions or actions they made out of fear. Also, these actions and decisions can cause problems for those people in their future. Fear is a harmful emotion, for it clouds people’s judgement, disables them from taking action, and causes them to make decisions that they will regret later.
“There is nothing to fear but fear itself” (Roosevelt). “Fear is a chain reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals that cause a racing heart, fast breathing and energized muscles, among other things, also known as the fight-or-flight response” (Layton). Fear affects the brain and can help people or make them in a worse situation than they were in the first place. Fear most motivates/influences people during times of crisis by clouding judgement and becoming a weapon of power.
According to Chris Hadfield, fear is the unpleasant emotion (caused by dangerous) by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, or likely to cause pain or threat. One of the saying is “Fear is a choice while danger is the reality of a certain situation”- which means we cannot control the level of danger in a situation, but we can choose to feel afraid or chose not to let fear limits our ability to try something new, create or dream from coming true but with practice we can overcome our fear of scary situations. For example, Chris Hadfield mentioned as a little kid, he always dreamt of going on spaceships and becoming an astronomer. However, as he mentioned about his dream, it was impossible to be true if he believed his fears about flying or trying something for the most part known to be dangerous. In my opinion, I agree with what Chris Hadfield mentioned about the fear that it sometimes can be excessive, but it is our choice to overcome these fears by more practice and gaining new experience, but I also think that it can be useful because it can hinder us from doing something that actually could harm us.