Comments on Fear, Fearmorphosis and Scapegoat Theory by David Grahame Armes

[Desh Subba]

Ed. Note: Fearmorphosis book by Desh Subba 2023 reviewed here below, was first posted in The Existentialist Cafe group on Facebook. On that post David Grahame Armes commented. His comment cannot be shared with readers. For the convenience of them,with the permission of commenters, published. -DS] 

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Desh Subba, isn't this article saying fear of everything crashing down is fundamental in metamorphosis within people, economies and societies which has delivered every advance known to Humanity? I do not dispute that fear can be a huge motivation for most people, but this can go too far reaching a point where people no longer fear even death because they've had it up to here with fear, and of course many people find this extremely difficult to understand and frightening because such people appear out of control still living but with a totally different motivation. This is basically true. Nevertheless, it is people in this state of mind who have actually delivered the great advances in Humans and Society.

Without fearless Universalists like Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Gandhi, MLK, and Baron RAF Battle of Britain Air Marshall Lord Sir Hugh Tremenheere Dowding (who had a laugh claiming he never got the true recognition he deserved after WW2 whilst turning his attention to working with Walt Disney in the Fairy Investigation Society), there would likely be nothing to raise the endeavor of people from the barbarity of constant warfare of some sort or another.

World Religion was created and maintained by these people, and without tolerant liberal Religion as the first and arguably best form of Politics because it acts to unify despite what openly sectional politicians who brought it down say today, there really would be no universities, libraries, science, schools, industrial revolution, philosophy, politics, and comfort. Even an isolated Amazon tribe motivates its members through something greater than the struggle to keep alive, probably because that would be far too depressing and they'd all give up and die out. Even today in the seemingly secular West we still idolise Love and falling in Love as the highest motivation we could hope for even though being in Love confronts everyone with our collective desire to be Functioning Mad rather than still Mad but not Functioning so well. If the Sisyphus metaphor is correct here we have to madly embrace not being afraid in order to keep getting motivated to keep pushing the huge rock up the hill.

I guess I don't totally agree with the Fearmorphosis thesis, because in a Western mindset at least we desire to be fearlessly Mad and Free in order to get anything done.

In this respect we have been extremely successful so far, even if the Planet teeters on the edge of total destruction regularly these days. What Westerners say is Liberal Democracies that idolise Love and Freedom rarely if ever go to War with each other, so we are frantically trying to help everyone be as Mad as we are before the whole thing goes belly up!

The real huge gaping academic gap in the market for ideas, is a more comprehensive examination and appreciation of what Madness actually is and how it can metamorphosis into different things that we decide are not Madness whether for Good, Reason, or Utter Evil? We simply are not looking at the main drivers of real Progress in every way. Not whilst we're basically using pseudoscience to control it whenever it appears problematic regardless of whether this is true or not?

 

The element in the Fearmorphosis thesis covering different forms of scapegoating is relevant to how we treat pseudoscience mental health patients.

 

In my own case, there appears zero interest in whether the original reasons for scapegoating me had or have any basis in reality, as well as a grim determination to carry on scapegoating me regardless. The fact that only something like God Almighty can probably deliver me from this fate, and in fact is something I claim to know something about, only seems to motivate the scapegoating further and in and of itself the combination of the two is driving Political and Psychiatric change yet again!

 

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[R.Michael Fisher]

Sounds like there is some agreement re: nature and role of fear in human development and evolution between Desh Subba (author) and D. G. Armes (commentator on FB). Unfortunately, Armes doesn't really take any nuance on the problems of defining and making meaning of fear (as Subba does as a fearist philosopher). 

I guess I'd want to know more about "Madness" theory and its positive role, as Armes seems to suggest it is so.