For decades I have been arguing that our society (I mean in the W. world, at least) has a very confused sense of definitions and meanings about both "fear" and "fearlessness." It has been disturbing to see W. scientists of a variety of kinds attempting to construct a research construct whereby "fearlessness" (or "fearless") is pathological. The accusations, in this particular biased framing, has led to linking fearlessness in individuals with highly aggressive/violent behavior, and most recently I came across a couple recent journal articles that link "fearlessness" to higher rates of suicide (see references below).
IF there is one 'enemy' of the Fearlessness Movement, it is this confusion. For sure, you'll also find Westerners also liking the concept of fearlessness and giving it a positive value attribution, but then you can find just as many folks giving it a negative one, and no more is the latter evident than in the W. sciences and fields like criminology, for e.g. This latest set of studies linking fearlessness to suicide is in my view very twisted with a biased conception that mis-uses the term "fearlessness" and doesn't define it in terms of all the literature on fearlessness E. and W. from many cultures, including spiritual traditions (e.g., Sacred Warriorship). I won't go on and on, but to point out this problem as a reminder of what we are up against in promoting the Fearlessness Movement (and it is not that I want us to not critique fearlessness notions, but I do want us to do so by being informed of a much larger data base than what is presented by W. scientists).
References:
Bryan, C. J., and Cukrowicz, K. C. (2011). Associations between types of combat violence and the acquired capacity for suicide. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 4(2), 126-36.
Witte, T. K., Correia, C. J., and Angarano, D. (2013). Experience with euthanasia is associated with fearlessness about death in veterinary students. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 43(2), 125-38.
Comments