Bear with me here....

I was thinking about this several days ago but didn't bother with making a thread about it until now. I'm hoping to nail it all down in as straight a line as possible but I do sometimes zig, zag and trip over my own feet so please be patient.

Fear.

It seems to have become a major planetary ordeal. Obviously a lot of the fears we feel on a regular basis are good and keep us alive. "Don't walk into an open elevator shaft...." for example is a positive, life-preserving instinct or natural fear that many people share and agree upon. But I'm talking about the over-the-top, sensationalistic and unnecessary kinds of fear that have blown the doors wide open for every kind of negative emotion to have free reign over us if we just let it, and by the looks of things around the planet today, it's going full-swing with no signs of let-up in sight!

My original thoughts were about horror movies. Now, this topic is by no means restricted to that one tangent but it's my main focus for bringing this discussion forward. It may not remain the main focus but it's what popped into my mind last week when this idea of Fear surfaced in my thoughts.

Not only do we seem to be overrun by the widespread domination of fear in our global society, but we demand it! We pay for it! Hard-earned money that a lot of people make by working jobs that they hate (enter learned sado-masochism?) is thrown hand-over-fist at movie venues and video stores in order for people to be safely and selectively "scared out of their minds". Why??

Some fears, in their natural life-preserving manifestations, are built-in safety features for us as a species. But artificially induced fear, for the sake of entertainment (scary movies, theme park rides, etc...) in my opinion are an extremely unhealthy life choice that far too many people are making daily without even realizing there being a problem. It could even be drawn from this that those that engage in these types of activities aren't much different than those seeking similar rushes from drug use/abuse. Not a judgement on either group, just an observation.

I remember a scene from the movie Apocalypto where the main characters' father cautions him not to "bring fear back into the camp with him". This is my angle here. Fear, when not used/experienced as a life-preserving emotion/act, only serves to drain us, disempower us and spiritually/emotionally cripple us leaving behind a weakened, compromised Being. But this is NOT a consideration given much time by many people at all these days. How did this fascination with fear become such a huge part of what we are culturally? It's not even specific to western societies anymore, it's a planetary-wide epidemic. I myself am not a fan of the scary gore and violence of horror movies. Nor do I pass judgement on those that are. But it seems to me that somewhere along the line we got sold a bill of goods that we weren't even looking to buy. It was thrust upon us.

I know many will blame America. Hollywood. Hollyweird! I get that, I understand the coming to that conclusion. But it seems to be something that goes far beyond national boundaries and crosses cultures like a disease. Fear. When did "harmlessly" feeding it become OK? You are what you eat. Garbage in, garbage out! Given the latest headlines, this feeding of fear only seems to be gaining momentum. Cannibal attacks, body parts being mailed in packages, Fear, Fear, FEAR, TERROR, BE AFRAID!! Hell, people don't even need to go to the movie theater anymore to get their daily dose of fear, just flip on the TV or look at a newspaper! It's all there, waiting to scare the bejeezus outta ya!! (I know that agenda too!)

I just think that feeding fear on a regular basis can only be detrimental to our well-being and ultimately cause us nothing but sorrow in the long AND short runs.

Now, YOUR turn....

Here's the clip from Apocalypto.



What he says about "engaging with fear", I think that's there's nothing to fear but fear itself kind of thing. I think it's about choice. We see all these horrific news stories every day, but we have a choice as to how to react to them. That's how I see it anyway.

Fear is the key to this whole thing. Once people are in fear, they become so pliable it's ridiculous. That's why it's nurtured. Fear is the ultimate tool of control.

I think I'm preaching to the converted here anyway

As for scary movies...I don't know, I've never really been scared of them. It's not real fear. So I don't know where they fit into things.

im afraid of spiders and the ocean depths.
nothing else. NOTHING
i laugh in the face of fear. haha! you pussy.

fear is a survival instinct.

and when it comes to survival situation, people either freeze up or lose the fear.

fear can be good, if youre fearless about running facefirst into a concrete wall,it wont be helpfull longterm.

if youre too fearfull about everything, youll live in chronic,latent panic and not enjoy your life.probably not very good for health.

enjoy life as good as you can is my motto, because life has some good things to offer.

dont waste it on drugs, really, dont.this is coming from a former heavy user and now absolutely abstinent guy.

to each his own.

We don't have to live with fear here in the west. Not really. Not real fear. Imagine living in a warzone. Waiting for a bomb to land on your house. Waiting for soldiers to break into your home and do god knows what to your wife and kids. Going hungry. Running out of water. Etc.

Well, actually, it's a different kind of fear here in the west. Fear of losing your job. Fear of the bank repossesing you house. Fear of the evil terrorists. Fear of disease. Soft fear?

batou wrote: have you ever had someone pointing a gun at you?

i did, more than once, one time it was a couple machineguns, its, how can i say, very interesting moments.

the mind and body go into a very special state during this.hard to describe.

irrepressible wrote: when you seen warzone, nothing much can possible shock you later on.

the western fears and complaints are on avery high level.
think how ridiculous it is when a 40year old guy gets upset and panicky when facebook is down for 20minutes.

F.E.A.R

False Evidence Appearing Real
or........
Fuck Everything And Run

phemohilia wrote: just watched the 1lunatic 1 icepick video woth friend and we agreed upon the horror movies arent very innocent in this.
the guy played american psycho theme song in the background afterall.

my friend said with these lunatics these days, you should always carry a gun.

there are many crazy,crazy people out there, and in bad economic times desperation can lead to bad things

I think part of the reason people seek some form of artificial thrill through the use of horror movies or adrenaline boosting activities is due to the extremely mundane lives many people now live. Despite what the main stream media would have us believe most people actually live in relatively safe environments. H&SE directives have removed peoples ability to take risks in their daily work and individual responsibilities have been handed over to a third-party, local or national government departments and the police etc.

Maybe people seek this sort of entertainment as a substitute for something which should actually be present in our daily activities. We as an evolving species are living a totally unnatural life style, which is governed by social constraints which have developed much faster than our physical evolution/development. Despite what society may dictate is normal behavior, our deep rooted instincts are ever present and very close to the surface.

The other side of the social implications are as you say by design and certainly used to control the herd. This little video is a great demonstration of how many people are enslaved by the system and society.

hadabusa wrote: oh yes, knife and gun. its makes the world look very small and loud.
of course, i am being a meat head when i say i fear nothing. it is natures way to fear certain things.
i think people dont fear too much they worry and they fret, they have anxiety. all fall under the banner of fear though.
they are put under pressure that all these dangers are around even though they dont have to face them.

This is an interesting topic, Phem. I'm not defending Hollyweird either, but I think a little too much credence may be given to them and their manipulation. They saw that people seemed to like fear, and have since gone to great lengths to provide it like a drug dealer. The same can be said for the mainstream media, and even government officials. They know it stimulates primitive parts of the brain, areas that a lot of us don't utilize quite in the same way we used to since the advent of civilization. I think it's really down to both parties. They wouldn't have a fear market if people didn't line up in droves to get their fear fix. Essentially I see people displacing their weak willpower on Hollyweird, rather than fessing up and addressing that they like it. "It's them, not me!!" Only works to a certain extent.

batou wrote: youve worded that very nicely

fear is probably the wrong word.its worries,rather.

i didnt fear the police busting my garden, i was just worried often.

I had a gun pulled on me , in San Francisco, by some guy who said i'd been shagging his wife.

I've been fired at by Iraqi jet-fighters, I've had excocet missiles a bit too close.

But that's not the fear the op is on about is it?

Our paradigm i built on fear, of everything around us, we are raised in fear, we live in fear, of what?

Death may be the greatest illusion.

It's already been discussed that there is a real use for fear and then there is fear that is just an abuse.

I am very glad that I get a bit frightened when I'm 40 foot up a tree with a chainsaw. Without that fear I'd be doing even sillier stuff than I do now and probably wouldn't be typing this.

But when that catharbound tries to fear me up with tales of how the world will be sucked into a peanut, he may be wanting to arouse fear but the result is a different emotion altogether being raised in me.......

dubmeup wrote:
Well said, I don't elucidate very well, but you guys do it for me.

2 kinds of fear....survival and bullshit.

jhado wrote: nono, most fears are worries of a possible coming of experiences like youve listed above.

like, war and wild rioting etc.

one leads to another, but war and death is just the ultimate form

hadabusa wrote:
I told you my friends on here tell it better than I.

There is in each of us an ancient force that takes and an ancient force that gives. A man finds little difficulty facing that place within himself where the taking force dwells, but it’s almost impossible for him to see into the giving force without changing into something other than man. For a woman, the situation is reversed. The fear in us is so ancient that its ground into each separate cell of our bodies. We are shaped by such forces. You can say to yourself, 'Yes, I see how such a thing may be.' But when you look inward and confront the raw force of your own life unshielded, you see your peril. You see that this could overwhelm you. The greatest peril to the Giver is the force that takes. The greatest peril to the Taker is the force that gives. It's as easy to be overwhelmed by giving as by taking.

The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.

The Apprentice wrote:
Welcome Back!!