“The Gift Of Fear,” a psychology book written by Gavin De Becker, is an extremely useful and informative read. It gives valuable advice about how to act upon human intuition, how to recognize threats, and defines what real fear is and it’s purpose. I found the book to be extremely interesting. This book provided me with a sense of understanding on violence and fear and I feel much better prepared when it comes to recognizing dangerous situations.
My favorite part of the book was the warning signs to know when a stranger is a potential threat. This was fascinating to me because I’ve been told since I was just a little boy to beware of strangers. But with all these warnings about strangers I had never been told how to recognize when a
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When a person gets that “gut feeling” that something just isn’t right, it should never be ignored. Our natural human intuition is giving us that “gut feeling” for a reason. And that sensation of danger can save lives. One example of how human intuition works was given in the book; a man walked into a convenience store, had a gut feeling he needed to get out of there, left, and found out later that day the convenience store had been robbed and the cashier had been shot and killed. This seemingly random feeling of danger that spared this mans life was not random at all. His intuition let him know to have fear because the cashier looked as if he was fearful when the man walked into the store and also there was a second nervous looking customer wearing a long concealing jacket while it was hot outside. His intuition let him know that there was a potentially dangerous situation even if he wasn’t looking for the signs that were there. This applies to my life because everybody can experience these “gut feelings” from human intuition; I know now to act upon them and to never ignore them because they have the capability to save your life. One thing I learned about fear is that it can basically act for us. With fear humans can make critical decisions that they wouldn’t dare make without fear edging them on. A story that particularly shocked me was the story of a young woman named Kelly. She followed her
“Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.”-Karl Augustus Menninger.
In this TED talk video, the necessity of it is because in general public it is told to ignore fear instead of using it as a tool in life, which prompts us for not being well prepared with having something going on all around us. Additionally, our disposition to accept control and we compose more clear however nonsensical worries as opposed to the more honest yet sensible ones. Karen Thompson Walker uses cases of fear to portray this from standard society today, including critical instances of affairs the world appearances, for instance, moderate ecological change and coronary ailment, getting her point across to her group that she has identified as her audience, which is 21st century Americans.
argues how fear has a direct impact on our judgment. He tries to prove that as a result of feeling
During the Salem witch trials, many lives that were taken due to a few people’s self defence. In the book, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a group of girls caused a whole town to go array. This group of girls were caught naked, dancing and conjuring spirits. These girls were going to accept the blame and receive the whipping for what they did, but one of the girls, Abigail, was not about to go down. Abigail had the whole group of girls convinced that it would be best to lie and to not accept the beating. By doing this, they were put into the court and used to tell the judges whether or not the people whom were accused were truly witches. Though the girls had no way of telling if the accused were truly witches, they
To start of the novel Fear, by Gabriel Chevallier, Jean Dartemont is in France observing all the civilians celebrate the start of the new war. He criticizes their behavior and strongly disapproves, however, he admits a curiosity in him that convinces him to volunteer for the war for it will be a ‘remarkable spectacle.” After being approved to go to war, Dartemont heads to a training camp. There he becomes a private after failing to become an officer. Here he commands a group, but realized he finds the maintenance of soldiers to be tedious and useless work. Already he becomes quite eager to arrive at the front lines, which soon happens.
Fear can create an instinctual response to perceived danger. A good example is of the time my husband and I were alone on a long hike in the jungles of Belize and came upon a fer-de-lance snake that would most likely have killed us with its bite. Without any time passing, my instinct of fight or flight emerged and I pushed my husband out of the way, telling him to run as I did. Also, in an instinctual state of fear, someone can perform tasks they did not think were possible such as being able to lift a
Karen Thompson Walker’s “What Fear Can Teach Us” indicates how fear influences our everyday actions and
In our world fear roams everywhere. In our streets, businesses, schools, and homes. Fear has caused wars, and treaties. Fear can cause people to start something amazing or horrific. People can change because of fear of a thing.
Fear is one of the most basic and vital aspects of human behavior. To our ancestors, it was often the only thing that kept them alive, but today, with less and less things in the natural world people have to be afraid of, it usually just keeps them from working towards their goals. Fear can prevent one from pursuing their dream in that it forces us to be afraid of the future and can act as a catalyst for people giving up.
One of the things we fear the most is the loss of or lack of control. Even if we really don’t have control, we like to think we do, and when we lose that sense of control, fear rushes in. For example, an alcoholic will say " I can quit any time; I’m in control." The fear comes when he realizes for the first time that he is an alcoholic and that he is not in control. We all fear uncertainty and the unknown. We arm ourselves against it with candles in the dark, or faith against the uncertainty of death. Then, when we think we’ve conquered our fear, it comes invading our minds again, let in by a smell or a taste, a sound or a thought Fear is always there, just waiting right under the surface, to awaken those memories which frighten us the most.
Originally, Americans wanted to remain isolated from the rest of the world so they could be safe from the dangers of war and European conflicts (I can see why). At the same time, America wanted to be the role model for countries around the world, but World War II made them realize that because they are isolated by the oceans surrounding them, they can no longer serve as a model for the rest of the world. As a result, America 's postwar goal was to involve themselves in world politics to keep peace and make sure that authoritarian governments (such as the Soviet Union) would not overtake Europe (seems like they promoted war than prevented it because they provided so many weapons for other countries). However, the Soviet Union leader, Joseph Stalin, wanted to control all of Europe (just as Hitler had), with a plan to step in and take it over during a war that will occur in the future between rival capitalists, Britain and America, probably since history repeats itself (WW1 was a war between capitalists- true story). After the war ended and the restoration of Europe was in process, Stalin began to overstep his boundaries by sending troops to occupy areas that he was not permitted to (not a very smart decision from Stalin 's side), which angered America and Britain, especially since they were agreeing to his demands that were originally settled between the him and Hitler. Adding the newly-created communist
Fear is something that large amounts of people have encountered at least once at some point in their lives. It has been said to have caused a variety of outcomes, many of them being largely negative. Therefore, it is a common human response to react to fear by counteracting it with positivity and/or success. The idea people have of what fear is depends on the person. In the article “How Fear Works”, for example, fear is defined as a “chain reaction in the brain that starts with a stressful stimulus and ends with the release of chemicals” (Layton 1). The website “Psychology Today” defines fear another way, calling it “a vital response to physical and emotional danger” ("Fear Paranoia”). There are several other definitions people have on the
Fear to me is a fascinating emotion. People take it as a negative, but to me it's there for basic survival. Fear can also make people bond. After 9/11, the whole country was in fear. Yet, for the first time I can remember, the whole country was a united one.
Fear is the number one obstacle everyone must overcome at some point in their life. When the word fear is brought up I like to think of past situations that I experienced. There are many different methods used to conquer and learn from our fears such and exposure therapy, having a growth mindset, and thinking positive. For example, when I was younger fear was my worst enemy, School was the main reason that caused my fear. My fear of failure was my biggest obstacle growing up so I used that as a method to learn from my fears.
Fear is something every single human being has at some point in their life. When you are in dangerous, threatening, or scary situations, fear is what your body will feel. It is the ability to identify danger and make a choice to either confront that fear or flee from the situation like for example, if you were to break a vase, you would hide from your parents. That choice is completely up to the victim, and depends on the person. Although fear is handled differently by every person, it is a common emotion that everyone feels. Some seek out to overcome their fears, and seek the feeling of adrenaline they get from overcoming. Others flee the situation and don't think twice about trying to overcome their fear. In worst case scenarios people freeze