News Today - Fear in the media

Those who try to scare me make me angry.

In humans, fear creates a mechanism in which our thinking and reason goes out the window. This makes sense biologically, all of the humans who weren't frightened when the lion came are no longer in the gene pool. Like other pack/herd animals, this fear spreads quickly to alert us of this danger so that we might survive. Again, the humans who this didn't happen with have mostly left the genepool. This mechanism is utilized by the schoolyard [and later] bully, politicians, the sales person, the media, creating fear in their prey to have them not be able to reason, to think clearly as blood flow literially reduces to the pre-frontal cortex, aka consciousness/higher reasoning center. We then look towards a leader or to be directed, to follow the flock. It is used to control our thinking and activity and does so well.

Now the antidote to fear is anger. Anger isn't as most think it is, all or nothing it comes in many flavors, be it low key assertiveness all the way to rage. Anger when applicable to the situation and when not turned up higher than is warranted [often because of not learning how to do that or having suppressed anger from childhood] is incredibly useful in dealing with fear. To be angry at the people creating the fear leaves space in which consciousness and reason can slip in, again, so long as there's not a lot of repressed anger. Obviously anger isn't 'as' good as being peaceful for reasoning, though there's times for it. Those who claim you shouldn't be angry are either delusional, don't understand emotions or are trying to get control.  Parents are great at not letting kids be appropriately angry.

Anger lets you fight the lion, helps you scare off the lion, helps you to trap the lion, helps you to out think the lion. Fear helps you get away and yet you can also get away from the lion with anger just fine. Being jumped by 6 guys attacking me with bottles made me angry, though there was a much better option in getting away from them. Both fire up the adrenal system for better physical performance, perhaps another way of thinking about it is that we have both fear and anger and we can use them both at the same time.  If we only use fear, we won't have a lot of thinking going on.

So, when dealing with those who try to scare you, get annoyed at them, you can still run if you have to, but you won't run just because they tell you to.  Are they trying to save you from the lion or are they the lion, trying to bring you to them?  I do brain stuff for a living and teach people how to deal with fear/anxiety and add peace to their lives, those are my thoughts and the approximations I have made after 20 years or experience and research.

Approximately get a low level angry when people who try to scare you and find out more as to their motives.

I'm waiting for someone to claim that ISIS were caused by Global Warming - that would be it for me!!!!!!!

GN, I 100% agree with your comments above too. I just finished an online course on Terrorism/Counter terrorism. One thing that really stood out to me was this quote ( as best as I can remember ) : "Terrorists would rather kill 1 person and have 1000 live in fear, than to kill 1000 and have 1 live in fear"

My lad (12yrs) went to Army cadets tonight for the first time - he was quite disappointed that they wouldn't let cadets go to Syria to kill ISIS!!!!! (Beams with Pride). So, he told me it was ok if I went for him instead!!!!! I think our family are in safe hands after I pass on!!!