Ethan Nguyen, Week 12 - The Power of Fear
Fear is a strong emotion that we have all felt before. It can cause strong physiological responses such as the familiar clammy hands and fast beating heart. Whether it was from that school presentation that you felt underprepared for or the horror movie you regretted watching, fear was there.
Fear was the evolutionary mechanism that allowed humans to maneuver through and survive dangerous situations. Nowadays, fear can manifest in many ways. Instead of from the threat of a dangerous animal, fear can be prompted from societal pressures like economic troubles, relationship problems, or even the philosophical woes of an existential crisis. Importantly, however, this fear is always directed towards something or someone. Why is this fact important?
Fear can also be used to garner a collective response. Through the use of tactics like propaganda and mass media, these methods can be used to direct this human emotion towards a tangible target. These powerful emotions and response are capable of culminating into major events that can cause drastic change.
Takes the examples of the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare. Both events were caused by a collective fear of a specific group that was used to target that group and cause the lives of many to be ruined. Fear is a powerful driving force that can be utilized to make changes to society.
While fear is a normal part of being human and having emotions, it is important to keep you free will and prevent it from controlling your decisions.
Hi Ethan, I loved your topic of illustrating the power of fear. Your start was captivating as you explained how we experience fear in our daily lives and the effects of fear. You also mention the benefits of fear and how it has been there for generations. You explained previously in Mankind fear was there from dangerous situations and currently it is from societal issues. I agree with you as much of the fear created in our life is through society. You further asked a question that intrigued me. I liked how you mentioned the ways fear helps us by giving us a racial response. You further give examples of the many tactics that can erose fear. I loved all the examples you used as these are relatable and I experience them daily through media. I loved how you explained fear can cause changes in society this gave me a new perspective on fear. Fear can sometimes get controlling and keep us away from enjoying life. I liked how you concluded with this and mentioned how it is important to ensure fear never takes advantage of us. Overall, your blog was informative and well-written.
ReplyDeleteHello Ethan! Your topic was very interesting to read about, I also agree that fear holds a lot of power. For example, dictators use fear to rule so that people follow their beliefs and don't disobey them. It is great to acknowledge both the positive and negative factors of fear. A strong example you included was the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare, which is easy for your audience to recognize since we have all read about it this year! The Salem Witch Trials drove people to falsely confess to witchcraft to avoid getting slaughtered, even though sacrificed their faith in God by lying about partaking in such activity. Your conclusion was an appropriate way to close your blog, as it included a valuable message to readers: Never let your fear control you.
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ReplyDeleteHi Ethan!
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I enjoyed how you described the effects of fear in your introduction and used examples I could relate to which helped me understand the concept. It is definitely interesting how many different ways fear manifests itself in our daily lives, however; I feel this may not necessarily be a bad thing. As a child, fear of punishment kept me from misbehaving most of the time and even today fear of failure keeps me motivated to maintain decent grades in school. Of course, fear can be manipulated by corrupt individuals, such as the Salem Witch Trials and Red Scare which you discussed, to control the views of the public for their own gain, such as McCarthy during the Red Scare. Ultimately, I agree with your belief and I believe fear should never dominate someone's behavior because, in the end, it will not make their situation better.
Fear is a strong emotion that push us to make irrational decisions, such as the Salem Witch Trials as you mentioned. It often tends to be contagious, as we saw in class, when, during the trials, fear of the devil spread until it was a collective panic. It is a cause it what we call "group think," or "herd mentality," and extreme examples can lead to witch hunt frenzy. You stated that fear is a "mechanism for us to avoid dangerous situations," and often times our perception of the future is rooted one of excessive worry, where we wrongly believe a negative outcome is more likely than it is. It that sense, fear is a double edge sword, that can cause possible future pain to be present anxiousness. Fear can also create a paralysis in life-or-death situations, hence the saying "frozen in fear." In dangerous circumstances, the thought of the future and often immediate suffering can prompt us to take actions to avoid it, however there have been instances where people are too afraid they are unable to move. Because of the illogical nature of fear, it is often important to think through your circumstances and navigate calmly, otherwise you can make bad decisions and have unnecessary anxiety.
ReplyDeleteHey Ethan,
ReplyDeleteI really like the topic you chose to write about for this week. In my opinion, fear is a driving force of humanity and one of the most powerful emotions.Throughout history, dictators and tyrants can be seen using fear to control others. This fear is used in forms such as propaganda, brutality, and torture. I appreciate how you gave examples of fear being used in society that we as a class already knew about. It made my understanding of your blog more direct and easy to understand. The Salem Witch Trials were driven by fear of religion while the Red Scare was driven by fear of society and acceptance. The old saying “fight or flight” is an example of fear being developed as an “evolutionary mechanism.” I like the picture you used in your blog as it is a classic representation of fear. Thank you for writing this blog!
Hi Ethan, I really enjoyed reading your blog especially as it is relatable due to the fact that fear is an emotion that we all have likely experienced before. Fear can be a result of various things whether that be, like you mentioned, being underprepared for a presentation or economic troubles, or even phobias. By reading your blog, I was able to better understand that depending on what causes someone to be fearful, that fear can also affect the ways in which someone may act. For instance, the example of the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare you gave explains how powerful fear is by its ability to influence others’ decisions. Overall, I found your blog to be really interesting and thank you for sharing!
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