culture of fear - Blog - Fearlessness Movement2024-03-28T14:07:36Zhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/feed/tag/culture+of+fearThe Fear Problematique: Fisher's New Bookhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/the-fear-problematique-fisher-s-new-book-12023-11-16T15:52:05.000Z2023-11-16T15:52:05.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><div class="media-body"> </div>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12234149275,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12234149275,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="12234149275?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="390" height="531" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A volume in the series: <a class="seriesLink" href="https://www.infoagepub.com/series/studies-in-the-philosophy-of-education">Studies in the Philosophy of Education</a>. Editor(s): John E. Petrovic, <em>The University of Alabama</em>.</p>
<p><strong>Published Nov. 15/23 2023 and for sale (see ordering flyer): <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12293582877,original{{/staticFileLink}}">SITPOE8.pdf</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Also, add Discount Code for a good price reduction deal: discount code TFP23, effective today, ending March 31, 2024.</strong></p>
<p><strong>[also, as of Dec. 18/23, I made a 30 min. video on introducing the book: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tXi-uEE4fk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tXi-uEE4fk</a> ]</strong></p>
<p>The author, with over three decades of focused research on fear and fearlessness and 45 years as an emancipatory educator, argues that philosophy and philosophy of education have missed several great opportunities to help bring about theoretical and meta-perspectival clarity, wisdom, compassion, and practical ways to the sphere of fear management/education (FME) throughout history. FME is not simple, nor a luxury, it is complex. It’s foundational to good curriculum but it requires careful philosophical critique. This book embarks on a unique transdisciplinary understanding of The Fear Problematique and how it can be integrated as a pivotal contextual reference for assessing the ‘best’ way to go in Education today and tomorrow. Educational philosophy is examined and shown to have largely ‘missed the boat’ in terms of responding critically and ethically to the insidious demand of having to truly educate ourselves when we are so scared stiff. Such a state of growing chronic fear, of morphing types of fear, and a culture of fear, ought to be central in shaping a philosophy of fear(ism) for education. The book challenges all leaders, but especially philosophers and educators, to upgrade their own fear imaginary and fear education for the 21st century, a century of terror likely to grow in the cascading global crises.</p>
<p> <strong>CONTENTS</strong></p>
<p>Preface. </p>
<p>CHAPTER 1: Introduction.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 2: Philosophy and a Fearturn.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 3: Education Philosophy 'Misses the Boat.'</p>
<p>CHAPTER 4: Fear(ism) as Philosophy: A Transformative Paradigm.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 5: Fear Management/Education for the 21st Century.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 6: Fearlessness as Educational Philosophy.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 7: Recommendations.</p>
<p>Glossary. References. Index.</p></div>The Fear Problematique: Fisher's New Bookhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/the-fear-problematique-fisher-s-new-book2023-09-28T14:08:12.000Z2023-09-28T14:08:12.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12234149275,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12234149275,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="12234149275?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="390" height="531" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A volume in the series: <a class="seriesLink" href="https://www.infoagepub.com/series/studies-in-the-philosophy-of-education">Studies in the Philosophy of Education</a>. Editor(s): John E. Petrovic, <em>The University of Alabama</em>.</p>
<p><strong>In Press 2023 and for sale: <a href="https://www.infoagepub.com/products/The-Fear-Problematique?fbclid=IwAR3GBWBZkf_XTDFXWAWi8txMdAjPXiy8ugx1x9urdmlbvU1dgfLIl_fGKUQ" target="_blank">Information Age Publishing</a></strong></p>
<p>The author, with over three decades of focused research on fear and fearlessness and 45 years as an emancipatory educator, argues that philosophy and philosophy of education have missed several great opportunities to help bring about theoretical and meta-perspectival clarity, wisdom, compassion, and practical ways to the sphere of fear management/education (FME) throughout history. FME is not simple, nor a luxury, it is complex. It’s foundational to good curriculum but it requires careful philosophical critique. This book embarks on a unique transdisciplinary understanding of The Fear Problematique and how it can be integrated as a pivotal contextual reference for assessing the ‘best’ way to go in Education today and tomorrow. Educational philosophy is examined and shown to have largely ‘missed the boat’ in terms of responding critically and ethically to the insidious demand of having to truly educate ourselves when we are so scared stiff. Such a state of growing chronic fear, of morphing types of fear, and a culture of fear, ought to be central in shaping a philosophy of fear(ism) for education. The book challenges all leaders, but especially philosophers and educators, to upgrade their own fear imaginary and fear education for the 21st century, a century of terror likely to grow in the cascading global crises.</p>
<p> <strong>CONTENTS</strong></p>
<p>Preface. </p>
<p>CHAPTER 1: Introduction.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 2: Philosophy and a Fearturn.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 3: Education Philosophy 'Misses the Boat.'</p>
<p>CHAPTER 4: Fear(ism) as Philosophy: A Transformative Paradigm.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 5: Fear Management/Education for the 21st Century.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 6: Fearlessness as Educational Philosophy.</p>
<p>CHAPTER 7: Recommendations.</p>
<p>Glossary. References. Index.</p></div>My Latest Teaching Gig: Fear & Humanityhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/my-latest-teaching-gig-fear-humanity2023-09-09T20:07:29.000Z2023-09-09T20:07:29.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Hi All, </strong></p>
<p style="font-weight:400;">FYI: Just wanted to share the good news that I have just had confirmation that my new 6 wk course at Vancouver Island University, Elder's College program, has 10 registered students (over 50 yrs. of age) and we're going ahead with it next wk. That's exciting and going to be a good way to meet new people and share thoughts and feelings about where our world is going and where we might be able to turn it around (even a little). Title of course and description below: </p>
<p style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Understanding Fear And Its Effects On Humanity </strong></p>
<p style="font-weight:400;">This is an introductory course on the nature and role of fear, individually and collectively. In the last three decades, especially since 9/11, fear has, for various reasons, become a growing topic of major concern in several academic disciplines, operations of democracy and governance and in its uses in business, advertising and popular culture. Explore your personal relationship to fear, the importance of multiple perspectives, critique the normal socialization and the culture of fear.</p>
<p style="font-weight:400;">ELDL 060 F23W70 6 sessions: Thu, Sep 14-Oct 19; 10:00-11:30am</p>
<p style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Instructor:</strong> Michael Fisher</p>
<p style="font-weight:400;"><strong>Location:</strong> Online </p>
<p style="font-weight:400;"><strong>R. Michael Fisher</strong>, PhD, is a retired educator who has focused on the impact of psychological, cultural, political, and philosophical issues on education, and how it often fails to emancipate us from the oppressions that hurt us. He is also an author of over 200 articles, has published 15 books, and is a popular teacher on YouTube. Michael has taught adult education for over 45 years, spent several years as a school teacher, and has been involved in youth and family rehabilitation work. Michael's research has focused on the phenomenon of fear and fearlessness since late 1989, and he refers to himself as a ‘fearologist’.</p></div>Pedagogy of Fear: New Social Psychology Findingshttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/pedagogy-of-fear-new-social-psychology-findings2023-09-02T18:37:39.000Z2023-09-02T18:37:39.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12215718254,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12215718254,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="12215718254?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This slide comes from a short presentation by the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt recently, who is going around and speaking about the problem of Gen Z kids becoming young adults. Especially, of concern, a lot of data shows that children born in 1995 or so, and heavily invested with computer technology in hand, have tended to become more and more "fragile" (aka mean, more and more scared of everything). The technology and the culture, according to Haidt (speaking about the W. modern world) is become enmeshed in unhealthy behaviors and mind-sets and values controlled by 'safety and security' needs beyond all else in terms of priorities. It is horribly impacting a negative socialization experience and it is comprising a healthy robust sociality in general. Our modern societies are really feeling the fall out of this post-1995 (especially) era. </p>
<p>I would call this the "culture of fear" and "pedagogy of fear" (of the toxic kind) that has intruded. The chart above is what Haidt's research summarizes as the outcome of this kind of socialization and pedagogy, and it is identified as cognitive pathologies (by any other name). Btw. Haidt and contemporary social psychologists he agrees with are not the only ones to point to these patterns of rather dysfunctional cognitive traits. Abraham Maslow (1966) listed some 21 cognitive pathologies (or what he called then "deficit-based" motivational cognitive behaviors and strategies).... I can say more about Maslow's work if you want. But for now, you may want to <a href="https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=562194575&q=jonathan+haidt&tbm=vid&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj58r6pl4yBAxVHo_0HHXIAC94Q0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=1280&bih=571&dpr=1.5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:34be5f51,vid:QvrMNDv6iYU" target="_blank">listen to Haidt</a> in this short summary talk that Dr. Arie Kizel sent me today: </p>
<p>Note: I don't agree with a lot of Haidt's conclusions (or his orienting perspective) but I also think he speaks of a lot of good points too. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reference: Maslow, A. (1966). The psychology of science: A reconnaisasance. NY: Harper & Row. </p></div>Fear and Mistrust Growing in Higher Educationhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/fear-and-mistrust-growing-in-higher-education2023-06-13T13:14:19.000Z2023-06-13T13:14:19.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p> </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}12027488460,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}12027488460,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="285" height="428" alt="12027488460?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>John Coleman, Apocatastasis Institute,</p>
<p>My colleague John Coleman, founder of <a href="https://apocatastasisinstitute.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Apocatastasis: Institute for the Humanities</a>, sent me this troubling but real article on truth of the growing problem of anxiety, fear and mistrust in the entire fabric of higher education these days.<strong> Gen Z</strong>, the digital-kids, are particularly plagued with (from an extract): </p>
<p>"We are often right to be careful, cautious, watchful, wary, chary or circumspect. A certain level of cynicism can be healthy. Each of us has been browbeaten, manipulated, stage-managed, swayed and taken advantage of, and no one likes being conned, deceived, duped, hoodwinked, sweet-talked or taken in.</p>
<p>But distrust can also be toxic, fueling anxiety and suspicion. it is all too easy for a healthy skepticism to lapse into paranoia. Indeed, Wilkinson-Ryan’s theme is that “the ‘healthy’ skepticism we inevitably acquire as a result of experiencing fraud and living amongst bad actors may not be healthy at all and that our fear of being a fool causes us to be less generous, less kind and less compassionate than we truly want to be.” As a result, we’re less likely to give our students the benefit of the doubt." </p>
<p>[for the full article, go to: <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/2023/06/02/trust-gap-higher-education">https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/blogs/higher-ed-gamma/2023/06/02/trust-gap-higher-education</a></p>
<p>[<em>apocatastasis</em> - is a theological term for restoration of perfection once again]</p></div>Culture of Fear, to Neoliberalism, to Neofascismhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/culture-of-fear-to-neoliberalism-to-neofascism2023-06-10T04:00:59.000Z2023-06-10T04:00:59.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p> </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11616668266,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11616668266,RESIZE_400x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="275" alt="11616668266?profile=RESIZE_400x" /></a> </p>
<p><a href="https://www.henryagiroux.com/">Henry A. Giroux</a></p>
<p> Professor of Culture and Education and Media Studies, Henry A. Giroux has for over 50 years been critically analyzing "Education" and "Culture" and "Politics" --and the underlying worldview and values that shape the learning and teaching of citizens. Recently he has written an article on "Gangster Capitalism" and argues where we are going, and how even neoliberalism (as 'mainstream' economic ideology) has been failing so badly in some ways, that it needs to now engulf and perpetuate neofascism to survive--meaning, to spread the culture of fear even more virally. Not good. </p>
<p>[Extract] </p>
<div class="nodetitle"><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Gangster Capitalism and the Politics of Fascist Education</strong></span></div>
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<div class="picture"><a title="View user profile." href="http://www.smirkingchimp.com/profile/henry-giroux"><img title="Henry Giroux's picture" src="http://www.smirkingchimp.com/files/pictures/picture-35601.jpg" alt="Henry Giroux's picture" /></a></div>
<div><span class="node_caption_text"><a href="http://www.smirkingchimp.com/profile/henry-giroux">Henry Giroux</a></span></div>
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<div class="nodebody">
<p><strong><em><a href="https://www.laprogressive.com/economic-equality/gangster-capitalism" target="_blank">— from LA Progressive</a></em></strong></p>
<p><img src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/104123811-GettyImages-51645932.jpg?v=1624827405&w=740&h=416&ffmt=webp&vtcrop=y" alt="" width="360" height="203" /></p>
<p>Capitalism has always been constructed on the basis of organized violence. Wedded to a political and economic system that consolidates power in the hands of a financial, cultural social elite, it construes profit making as the essence of democracy and consuming as the only obligation of citizenship. Matters of ethics, social responsibility, the welfare state, and the social contract are viewed as enemies of the market, thus legitimating the subordination of human needs to a relentless drive for accumulating profits at the expense of vital social needs and the larger public.<a href="http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/henry-giroux/106477/gangster-capitalism-and-the-politics-of-fascist-education#_edn1">[1]</a> Driven by a ruthless emphasis on privatization, deregulation, commodification, a sclerotic individualism and ruthless model of competition—neoliberal capitalism has morphed into a machinery of death—an unabashed form of gangster capitalism.</p>
<p>No longer able to live up to its promises of equality, improved social conditions, and rising social mobility, it now suffers from a legitimation crisis. No longer able to defend an agenda that has produced staggering levels of inequality, decimated labour rights, provided massive tax breaks to the financial elite, bailouts to big capital, and waged an incessant war on the welfare state, neoliberalism needed a new ideology to sustain itself politically.<a href="http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/henry-giroux/106477/gangster-capitalism-and-the-politics-of-fascist-education#_edn2">[2]</a></p>
<p>As Prabhat Patnaik, observes, the most radical fix to the potential collapse of neoliberalism “came in the form of neofascism.”<a href="http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/henry-giroux/106477/gangster-capitalism-and-the-politics-of-fascist-education#_edn3">[3]</a> Neoliberalism’s failure has resulted in its aligning itself with appeals to overt racism, white supremacy, white Christian nationalism, a politics of disposability, and a hatred of those deemed other. As an unapologetic form of gangster capitalism, violence is wielded as an honourable political discourse and education as a cultural politics has become both divisive and injurious. The flattening of culture, elevated to new extremes through the social media and the normalization of manufactured ignorance, has become a major educational weapon in the annihilation of the civic imagination, politics, and any sense of shared citizenship.</p>
<p>*******</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
</div>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>How Scared Are Our Children Becoming: What Can We Do?https://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/how-scared-are-our-children-becoming-what-can-we-do2023-04-10T13:57:37.000Z2023-04-10T13:57:37.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}11025980668,RESIZE_1200x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}11025980668,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="506" height="285" alt="11025980668?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a>I have long been interested in the fate of children in our societies and their enmeshment in cultures of fear--that is, being scared to death, being made to feel so fragile, and being unable to find a resiliency to meet the demanding (often oppressive) challenges of the day and their future. The 21st century is not going to likely be a pretty one, not for a long time that is. How can the path of Fearlessness help? How can we on the FM ning help? Let's have more discussion about children here and the nature and role of fear and fearlessness in their lives. </p>
<p>One cultural critic has a good short summary of some of the issues Gen Z especially is facing... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvrMNDv6iYU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvrMNDv6iYU</a></p>
<p>Not that I agree with everything Johnathan Haidt says about society, but he has some good points to consider. </p>
<p> </p></div>Centralizing of the Calamitous: Philosophy in the Key of Terrorhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/centralizing-of-the-calamitous-philosophy-in-the-key-of-terror2022-05-10T04:26:16.000Z2022-05-10T04:26:16.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10476380883,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10476380883,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10476380883?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="592" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This has got to be one of the most stunning <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=541zhNwrOIg" target="_blank">philosophical lectures/performances</a> of a genius liberal-radical contemporary philosopher (<a href="http://www.cornelwest.com/" target="_blank">Cornel West</a>) in 2014, there is-- I listen to it and it touches so many chords and choruses of the type of philosophy I have been attempting and working through, and now coming out in my latest book "<em>The Fear Problematique: Role of Philosophy of Education in Speaking Truths to Powers in a Culture of Fear</em>" (IAP, in press). </p>
<p>At one point in the talk, I particularly was delighted by West's bringing forward the Josiah Royce criticism of American philosophy, whereby (paraphrasing Royce), West says, "We need to re-word philosophy in a way in which it speaks to our times." Oh, yes! All of my work on centralizing the dark shadow (i.e., the tragic, tragic comedy, calamitous, the horrific)--and naming it as "fear"--for a start, has been about then finding the re-wording of philosophy laid down upon a new Fearlessness Paradigm. The search? the quest? the aim? For West and myself it is for paideia [<em>Paideia</em> (also spelled paedeia) refers to the r<em>earing and education of the ideal member of the ancient Greek polis</em> or state. These educational ideals...]</p></div>Sneak Preview: Chapter Five in Fisher's Newest Bookhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/sneak-preview-chapter-five-in-fisher-s-newest-book2022-04-05T16:14:30.000Z2022-04-05T16:14:30.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10264261257,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10264261257,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="10264261257?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p>This excerpt (first draft only) is a small piece to give you a sense of what I am 'onto' these days, especially in writing this tenth book (to be published later this year by Information Age Publishing, in their Philosophy of Education Series, Ed. Dr. John Petrovic) [1]. I have been working months and months, and it has been quite a ploughing the soil. Hard going at times. This Chapter Five took weeks to complete, as I just did this morning. Wow! It is by far the largest chapter in the book (coming in at a heavty 25,000 words itself, without the references). Yikes.</p>
<p>A number of fresh insights came from the writing that I could put into it, so that was good. It is never a boring writing because I risk all the time, on the edge of not knowing what I am doing and not creating chapter outlines. I just start writing. </p>
<p>As always, I trust this bit of expository on fear will intrigue you to critique, to commnent, here on the FM ning. And/or you can always email me directly: </p>
<p>r.michaelfisher52@gmail.com</p>
<p>Notes</p>
<p>1. Excerpt from Fisher, R. M. (in progress). <em>The Fear Problematique: Role of Philosophy of Education in Speaking Truths to Power in a Culture of Fear. </em></p></div>Culture of Fear: Deserves Critical Attentionhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/culture-of-fear-deserves-critical-attention2022-02-10T03:01:45.000Z2022-02-10T03:01:45.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10084898459,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10084898459,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="520" alt="10084898459?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I found this excerpt from a magazine article online. The point I'm interested in for this FM blog, is not this article per se. I find article after article, and most books or video talks, that discuss the culture of fear, have so little deep analysis of the phenomenon. Perhaps, folks here on the FM ning will do some analysis and serious writing about this topic? I have lots of articles on it, e.g., go to Google Scholar, if you wish. Mostly, I think the term "culture of fear" is powerful in itself, and there is no easy answer in the details and reality of the work, the healing, the re-education needed--that is, to just say we need a culture of hope, culture of love, culture of peace. Unfortunately, that's about all that gets offered out there. We need fresh thinking and new perspectives--even if imaginative and creative. You may also notice this author suggests "eradicating fear from mind, life and society" is the key point of the article. Why not call it a "fearless society" rather than a "culture of hope" as the solution? Yet, even such a statement is like a sweeping the dust away on the porch of a cabin in the desert. I want to look at why in 33 years of my own work on this topic, I do not see a coalition of people, forces, theories, philosophies, that are truly working to make this change. I see a lot of people talking, writing and teaching, but they are for the most part 'all doing their own thing.' That's why I started the In Search of Fearlessness Project, Movement, FM ning, etc. I have to sadly say, however, very little 'fire' is burning in these ventures in terms of collaborations that are continuous and passionately leading, and putting our best thinking together. I guess, the answer for the lack is 'people are too busy'...and, of course, I guess there's some reality to it. I just find that a lame answer and there's gotta be much more going on why we stay so separate and fragmented. </p>
<p> </p></div>Right Kind of Education: Fear Educationhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/right-kind-of-education-fear-education2021-02-21T15:56:32.000Z2021-02-21T15:56:32.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8580972288,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8580972288,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="8580972288?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p>[note: should be May, not Nay, as author here]</p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>1941</strong></span></p>
<p>Two historical documents here, the first by <strong>M</strong><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>ay</strong></span>, an American psychologist (1891-1977), wrote a good deal about the psychological imperatives for "peace education" in the world and then penned this 1941 book on the nature of what education ought to be in a "World of Fear". I had not previously found this little 73pp book in all my decades of researching on fear and Education. So, I share this with delight of discovering an important historical thinker, who has importantly contributed, even if implicitly, to what I call (and Jiddu Krishnamurti) "<em>appropriate education</em>" or "<em>right kind of education</em>" OR simply, "<strong><em>Fear Education</em></strong>" required for a world of peace, freedom and non-oppression--never mind, now it is so important to have such a right (ethical) education for ecological sanity and with the outcome of creating a true sustainable health for all beings for many generations. Life depends on this movement, reformation, and transformation of Education as we know it. </p>
<p>Regarding May's book (published by Harvard University Press), and its opening sentence on p. 1, "<strong>The dominating emotion of the world today is fear.</strong>" I would highly guess there is no other book on Education anywhere, dare I say in the world, across cultures, through time and history, that opens on its first page, first sentence, with that brutally honest and courageous statement of a declaration and indictment to the Modern World. One has to assume it is, more or less, a <em>great truth</em> that humans generally deny and do not like to face and/or write down on paper--and, especially in a book on Education.</p>
<p>I myself, specializing in <em>fear education</em> and leadership, have not been so bold and poignant in my own writing to nail this epithet like May did 80 years ago. And, so I wanted to honor him for doing so. And, may a great many other writers do the same from here on. I found one reference recently during COVID-19 pandemic by Gup (2020), talking about his experience in higher education and all the fear and trauma of what is happening to most everyone in his circles, and that he himself is questioning what is really core to being relevant right now to teach. He asked in this online article: "What is my goal as an educator?" And, then responded to himself: "In part, the answer may be what the late Mark May... declared in 1941, as the world faced the imminent prospect of war: "The task of education is to teach people how to manage their anxieties and hold them proportional to the realities of the danger." His [The Inglis Lecture] lecture turned book was entitled <em>Education in a World of Fear</em>, a fitting primer for today." [1] On my first look through the indexes, I could find only 4 book reviews done on May's book in the early 1940s, after that the book seems to have largely disappeared from view or at least no one was citing it with any enthusiasm. I'll continue to research to see if that is indeed the factual fate of this work by May.</p>
<p>Of course, it was in the midst of WW-II and all the big threats to democracy, to America and its allies (e.g., Nazism, fascism, pathological communism) that May was writing. Fears were abundant and spreading like a virus around most of the world, where people were directly involved in these toxic ideologies and the wars that accompanied them, and/or where people had global media access to listen to what was happening. Being informed in the times of WW-II (like WW-I) meant being fearful and anxious in an existential way that took its toll on everyone. Of course, it would take a psychologist, and specialist in educational psychology [2] as May was to name 'the dis-ease' (if not the inner 'enemy') to democracy, freedom, and a healthy world condition and good future. And, it was 1941 also that W. H. Auden penned his famous long poem "Age of Anxiety," which published in 1947, won a Pulitizer Prize for Poetry in 1948. It could just as well have been entitled "Age of Fear" or "World of Fear"--and so, one wonders if May had come across Auden's indictment or visa versa (?). Auden's poem, which is arguably a postmodern symptom arose because of a lament of the Modern Age which indeed seemed to be plagued by fears and anxieties, which Auden linked in the poem to increasing loss of cultural and family traditions, loss of religious/spiritual and moral compass, loss of basic sociality of trust and replacement of mistrust--leading to increasing human isolation. How indeed, could a social species (<em>Homo sapiens</em>) last under such conditions of decay? </p>
<p>From my point of view, a social species that does not have a thorough, creative and progressive <em>Fear Education</em> (curriculum, pedagogy, awareness, and commitment), like say sex education or peace education, etc., is a species that just won't make it far towards reaching its potential, and worse, it will likely deconstruct and enter extinction very rapidly in evolutionary time. Yet, why is it, I cannot find such a curriculum of a good, a right, an appropriate "fear education" to this day. Humans have avoided nailing it down, and May, is one amongst some other insightful and wise people, named it in his education book 80 years ago. But a lot of silence followed after his first sentence, first page, and his first book on setting the context for the field of education--that is, "a world of fear." The context is everything, for designing an appropriate education for the era we live in. I think nothing has changed since 1941 and yes, as Gup (2020) wrote in his article, mentioned above, such a context that May had named is "a fitting primer for today." Problem is, we need more than May's primer. We need a research agenda that acknowledges the nature and role of fear, across the board. We need it now. And, I have been working on this project since late 1989, and unfortunately, with little 'up-take' from the Education circles or from society in general. So, let me turn now to a most powerful voice, again, not one that is acknowledged generally in academia or the field of Education (at least, certainly not in the W. world)--J. Krishnamurti, a great philosopher of Indian background, who broke out and talked to the world in the 1930s-80s, at least to those that would listen, about many things--and liberational Education was always on his agenda. </p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Jiddu Krishnamurti </strong>(1885-1986)</span></p>
<p>I wish to briefly introduce another thinker (from India, also lived in USA), outside of the field of Education proper, who has more than one lecture or book that is "a fitting primer for today." Although I met JK in my own snooping and advancing my educational philosophy studies c. 1980s-90s, I have not published much on him, and I intend to change that. One of his small books <em>Education and the Significance of Life</em> (1953) [3]of which I copied the cover and placed it with May's first page (above image), is truly the most important book I know of relevant to education in a world of fear. If I had my say in how teachers today were to be "trained" --at least, in their first educational philosophy class, they would read this gem of a book. Frankly, I do not know of any one professor of education anywhere who is utilizing this book as a core reader for pre-service teachers. Of course, it is not only for those entering the profession of education but for all educators any time in their careers or beyond their careers. It is a necessary book to 'set priorities' on "What is my goal as an educator?" Governments, parent groups, and leaders of all kinds, ought to ask that question and, at least, explore what this philosopher JK has to say about the "right kind of education." </p>
<p>There is far too many quotes in this little book I would love to share, but in the spirit of this short blog post, and my juxtapositioning with May's book, I'll settle for one I picked at random this morning from JK's 1953 text, and to remember, my interpretation is that JK also, implicitly, is calling for a better "fear education" for humanity everywhere: </p>
<p><em>....without love no human problem can be solved. If the teacher is of the right kind, [s]he will not depend on a method, but will sstudy each individual pupil....The child is the result of both the past and the present and is therefore already conditioned. If we transmit our background to the child, we perpetuate both his and our own conditioning. There is radical transformation only when we understand our own conditioning and are free of it. To discuss what should be the right kind of education while we ourselves are conditioned is utterly futile....</em>[unfortunately too often] <em>We seek to fulfil ourselves in our children </em>[students]<em>, to perpetuate ourselves through them." </em>(p. 27)</p>
<p>[JK is talking about the (mis-)use of education, learning, teaching, as a grounds for perpetuating 'adult' needs and projections on children but keep in mind he is well aware that as parents/teachers/educators of all kinds, if we are unaware of our <strong>conditioning</strong>, then we are more or less mere 'agents' reproducing the agenda of the culture, society, religion, etc. within which all this socialization and education is taking place. Now, if you add May's point, and JK would not have likely disagreed, education is taking place ongoing, since at least 1941 (to pick an arbitrary date and era), then education is taking place in a "<strong>culture of fear</strong>" by any other name [4]. For brevity, I would argue the "conditioning" conceptualization here is truly radical and part of any good critical philosophy and pedagogy--but to be clear, JK arguably, is talking about fear-conditioning. Any serious investigation into theories of learning, has to start with the often accepted notion that what humans have learned about learning is that it can be "tested" and "inculcated" by psychological conditioning--of which, famously is done by "shock" (i.e., <strong>fear-conditioning</strong>)--because it is so overt, obvious, and incredibly effective. Thus, starts our basis for a critical literacy on the nature and role of fear--that is, "fear education" 101.]</p>
<p><em>If we would help the child to be free from the ways of the </em>[conditioned] <em>self, which cause so much suffering </em>[fearfulness]<em>, then each one of us should set about altering deeply his attitude and relationship to the child. Parents and educators, by their own thought and conduct, can help the child to be free and to flower in love and goodness. Education as it is at present in no way encourages the understanding of the inherited </em>[cultural] <em>tendencies and environmental influences which </em>[fear-] <em>condition the mind and heart and sustain fear, and therefore it does not help us to break through these conditionings and bring about an integrated human being. Any form of education that concerns itself with a part and not with the whole </em>[and context]<em> of man </em>[sic]<em> inevitably leads to increasing conflict and suffering. It is only in individual freedom </em>[from fear]<em> that love and goodness can flower; and the right kind of education alone can offer this freedom. Neither conformity to the present society nor the promise of a future Utopia can ever give the individual that insight without which [s]he is constantly creating problems. </em>(pp. 28-9).</p>
<p>So much more could be said about JK and the <strong>education of freedom from fear </strong>which is a central thread that ties everything his philosophy is about and creates. No wonder it has long attracted me. I would call it an <strong>education of fearlessness</strong>, or a<em> fearlessness education</em>, no matter what it is. I see in these quotes alone, the deeper issue of JK's persistence to draw our attention to the global <strong>Fear Problem</strong>. Meaning, we have not adequately named and/or undermined this Fear Problem. And, until we do, and we face our complicit participation in it (e.g., compliance with the "culture of fear" dynamic everywhere)--then, any 'education' is actually being done to reproduce the very problem we may think we want to solve. I am convinced after 32 years researching on fear, fearlessness, education, leadership, that rare is it to find anyone who wil fully admit the Fear Problem on the scale that May, JK or myself are demanding. We have a choice here. We are not mere victims to this Fear Problem. Albeit, it is immense, because we are so fear-conditioned--operating in the <strong>'Fear' Matrix</strong> as I have called it [5] and cannot even sense sometimes what 'water it is we are swimming in'--and so it becomes hard to imagine there is anything different, alternative--or actually freeing. As Erich Fromm and so many others have said, and JK included, '<strong>humans are afraid to be free'</strong> --at least, within the conditioning of several millenium and in the Modern Age onward. My task as an educational designer? Design a "fear education" that builds the essential emancipatory critical literacy for such a project--I call it In Search of Fearlessness Project--but it could have other names too. </p>
<p>Recently at an online conference, hosted in Canada and connected with India and an international audience, entitled "J. Krishnamurti and the Contemporary World Crisis"--I asked the panel after their presentations the following, based on how often I heard the host and panel members mention the word "fear":</p>
<p><em>I have always found Krishnamurti's analysis of knowledge and self as dependent upon analysis of fear. Do we need a better "fear education" where, fear is not merely an emotion like all others.?" </em></p>
<p>The host and presenters did respond kindly and sincerely but I found their understanding of my question unsatisfactory. They clearly could not address the second part of it. Maybe there was not time to, or maybe they really have no idea what a "fear education" means--certainly, if they have not read my work, they will not likely have enough to go on to even engage a rich dialogue on the topic. That's not their fault, it is that humanity has not done much since May's calling 80 years ago. Education as a whole is way behind the exacerbated viral fear-conditioning of the everyday--even though, no doubt there are improvements and some alternative education curriculum (e.g., private schools) that are going further along the road of emancipatory holistic and integral education. Even with the 'best' of those, however, I have discovered they are resistant still to talking about fear at the depths of what I propose they may want to consider in their curriculum and pedagogy. It's sad to watch these great school systems still being caught, or blind, to what JK, myself and others have pointed to--re: fear. </p>
<p>If we look at May's first page and first sentence again now, his third word is "emotion"--and that is where he locates "fear." That assumption, reasonable as it is based on W. (highly conditioned) thought (e.g., disciplinary philosophy and psychology)--it is very problematic to a good emancipatory "fear education" of the kind that JK or myself are asking for. To think that fear is just another emotion like all others, more or less, is a great illusion--and part of the problem of suffering. But, I won't go further in making that argument, though you can read Krishnamurti's book on education (1953) and you will definitely see how fear is by far something more than any other emotion he talks about in his philosophy. OK. Enough. </p>
<p>Let's continue the dialogue [r.michaelfisher52@gmail.com], and give "fear education" its due. I for one am pursuing this for the rest of my years on this planet--and, specifically, my newest book just starting is entitled: <em>The Fear Problematique: Role of Philosophy of Education in Speaking Truths to Powers in a Culture of Fear</em> (Information Age Publ.). </p>
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<p><strong>Notes</strong></p>
<p>1. Gup, T. (2020). Rewriting the syllabus. Retrieved from <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/04/15/professors-will-be-returning-different-reality-their-classrooms-fall-opinion">https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2020/04/15/professors-will-be-returning-different-reality-their-classrooms-fall-opinion</a></p>
<p>2. May had a Ph.D., professor of educational psychology and long-time director of the Institute of Human Relations, Yale University. He was author of several other books and a highly respected scholar and humanitarian in his days of service. </p>
<p>3. Krishnamurit, J. (1953/81). <em>Education and the significance of life. </em>Harper & Row. </p>
<p>4. Since the early 1980s, in the W. world, many scholars and some educators, have been naming the "culture of fear" per se as the context by which we all are living, more or less. No longer is it merely a group of "fears" or "anxieties" that we face together, as May is referring to--but, in the postmodern condition, arguably, the entire fabric of culture itself is fear-based, fear-shaped, fear-addicted, and so on. Now, under that condition, which I start my own educational philosophy, we have to ask "What is my goal as an educator?" Wow. That's a massive and heavy starting place. Of course, many, I have found, will conveniently answer that by saying, "My goal is to love them" (the children). Anyways, that's a huge contentious topic and answer that I find incredibly insufficient, as I believe JK or May would also have critiqued. Not to say, 'love' is not something incredibly important in the world and in educational happenings, but JK may mention loves pivotal role, as in the quote I chose above, but he says so much more about fear than most of my colleagues would who have taken on the love-mantra as "the" solution. These colleagues promote, more or less, a "love education" and have little to no patience for a "fear education." Frankly, I find that attitude alone, and the lack of curiosity that accompanies it, evidence for just how much fear is motivating their 'love' agenda. I do not trust it for one moment. JK would have a lot to say about that hidden motivation as well, part of our "conditioning." </p>
<p>5. E.g., Fisher, R. M. (2003). Fearless leadership in and out of the 'Fear' Matrix. Unpubl. dissertation. The University of British Columbia.</p>
<p> </p></div>Fisher's Recent Talk: Ecology & Fear OR Fear & Ecologyhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/fisher-s-recent-talk-ecology-fear-or-fear-ecology2020-12-01T02:47:17.000Z2020-12-01T02:47:17.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p>The following <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNyEQZJ-JT4&t=4728s" target="_blank">link</a>, will guide you to my recent Dr. A. V., Varughese Memorial Lecture (2020) in Kerala, India</p>
<p>To listen to my lecture you best start the video at the 21:20 mark </p>
<p>My talk is about ecocriticism as a newly emerging field in the last few decades, that involves literary criticism and ecology. I focus on a particular way I interpret this field and how it can better be holistic-integral in integrating the work on fear, fearism, and fearlessness. Fear as a vector in ecocriticism, and literary criticism, ought to take into account a term I coined in the talk, called Egocriticism. It is the combination of Ecocriticism and Egocriticism that I believe will be the better way to go in the future for truly critical analysis that really cuts through. The last 1/2 of the video is made up of questions from the audience and me answering them. </p>
<p>-enjoy, </p>
<p>M. </p>
<p>p.s. If you want my edited version, with me talking about my lecture in commentary, go to: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVpArm2cwPw%C2%A0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVpArm2cwPw </a></p></div>Children, Teens and Young Adults: Susceptible to Fear via Social Mediahttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/children-teens-and-young-adults-susceptible-to-fear-via-social-me2020-10-01T04:59:05.000Z2020-10-01T04:59:05.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7988690085,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7988690085,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="710" alt="7988690085?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>This image comes from the documentary movie <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He3IJJhFy-I" target="_blank">"Childhood 2.0"</a> free to watch on Youtube--highly recommend. Any use of new technologies that 'hook' people into addictive relationships with social media are a definite empirical 'danger' to their mental health (levels of fear/anxiety depression) linked to self-esteem--and, in worst cases, the research shows social media for these young people especially is a major cause of suicide (deaths) and/or suicidal ideation. The graph above is a pretty clear indicator of the more social media forms that come available, the more fear is created in your people (due to violence online, in many forms)--and, then the results are no longer just speculation. </p>
<p>As a fearologist, this kind of data, plus my own intuition, my own experiences with children and teens, etc., shows me that such young people (and it starts early in ages 7 onward for the most part) are incredibly sensitive to the fear of social rejection (or simply rating schemas that the social media designs have built-in to allow one to compare everyone with everyone very quickly and quantitatively, especially by the use of "Likes" measures, which are insidious devices which ought to be banned). But we all know the "tool" is not the problem, it is how we use it.</p>
<p>Families especially today have a major challenge to figure out how to keep connected between the generation gaps, teachers as well, and eventually we'll have to all admit (my request) we 'are scaring ourselves to death' by these computer technologies (especially use of social media) that create a cocktail for emotional disaster for young people. Ernest Becker, the great cultural anthropologist pretty much found in his research that "fear of death" and "self-esteem maintainance" are the 2 greatest motivators and shapers of human behavior. The nuance here is, fear of social death (i.e., exclusion, drop in status, etc.) is the greatest fear because it hits on the death fear and social fear and those hit on the self-esteem fear (loss)--and, a downward cycle results. The paradox is that parents generally believe the cell-phone, for e.g., is such a great "safety" device to keep kids secure, and so on; but real data like in the movie Childhood 2.0 shows that the online environment is more dangerous to the health of a young person than the outside world by a longshot. Check it out. </p>
<p>The whole addiction cycle involved here--the addiction to security (and use of such devices 'in-hand' all the time like a milk bottle)--is creating the most frightened and depressed young people this world has ever seen en mass, no matter what culture, class, gender, etc. It is a ubiquitous Fear Problem at its base--and, thus, fearology has a lot to contribute to the analysis and solutions. </p>
<p> </p></div>‘Ending the Culture of Fear’: Fantasy or Possibility?https://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/ending-the-culture-of-fear-fantasy-or-possibility2020-08-07T01:16:32.000Z2020-08-07T01:16:32.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p style="text-align:center;"><strong>‘Ending the Culture of Fear’: Fantasy or Possibility?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong>A Dialogue between Nonye & Michael</strong></p>
<p style="text-align:center;">R. Michael Fisher & Nonye T. Aghanya</p>
<p> [<u>Note</u>: Michael (Canada) approached Nonye (USA) recently and conducted this email exchange over a few weeks focusing on their interests and questions about the phenomenon called “culture of fear”]</p>
<p><strong> </strong><em>Recent decades have witnessed the emergence of competitive scaremongering, where different groups vie with one another about what we should and should not fear. So while one group of professionals advises parents to shield their children from the sun in order to protect them from skin cancer, another group points to the risk of children suffering from vitamin D deficiency because they have been shield from the sun. Competitive scaremongering surrounds the debate on whether vaccinating children carries more risk than letting nature run its course. People routinely accuse one another of promoting fear, playing the fear card, or allowing themselves to be manipulated by appeals to fear....Barry Glassner [sociologist] claims that “we are living in the most fear-mongering time in history.’ Perhaps he is right. </em>-Frank Furedi [1]</p>
<p><strong>RMF:</strong> I have recently been working on a paper tracking the history of the “culture of fear” concept across disciplines [2]. Although, this concept has been in my research, writing and teaching since 1997 or so, it remains a sturdy concept for critical analysis of our individual and collective lives. In 2004, I was contracted to do a baseline study of the uses and definitions of “culture of fear” across disciplines. I directed it for leaders, although that report was never published widely [3]. I observe, unfortunately, there is still a good deal of (mis-)interpretation going on amongst those that throw the term around today. So, that’s one issue I’d be curious to explore with you in this brief interview.</p>
<p>Oh, I’m curious Nonye if and when you had heard of the term “culture of fear” or “climate of fear”; and have you pursued researching more into those at all? Do you teach about these concepts as contexts within nursing education or in your online program <em>per se</em>, what is it called?</p>
<p><strong>Nonye: </strong>Thanks Michael, this is truly an interesting topic and I’m excited to explore and gain some insights from a fearologist on “culture of fear,” especially as it pertains to healthcare. In the context of Nursing/Medical education and healthcare practices, many institutions for countless years have implemented and embraced various methodologies for more efficient general care delivery. An example is the use of Wong Baker pain scale for objective assessment and better pain management for patients.</p>
<p>However, in my review of various existing empirical studies, there seemed to be a lack of methodology to effectively address patients’ apprehensions due to anxieties and fears in healthcare settings. Such patients’ state of anxiety is quite comparable to the “climate of fear” brought on by the feeling of unknown amongst other factors. Some studies highlight various contributory factors, for e.g. decline of practitioners’ empathy and compassion in healthcare practices and further suggest educational interventions for enhancing empathy in healthcare practitioners as part of a solution to the problem of fear/anxiety management. I’m optimistic about introducing my findings on the use of soft skills of communication as a vital tool for curbing patients fears and anxieties and improving the chances of trust development with healthcare practitioners. Contents of my online courses and book can be used as educational resources in Nursing and medical institutions.</p>
<p><strong>RMF:</strong> Okay. But before we get to the conception of what makes a culture of fear, and how to best ‘know’ what a culture of fear is and transform it, I’ll ask you to respond to the recent article in the <em>British Medical Journal </em>(2018) that caught my eye, with a provocative title: “End the Culture of Fear in Healthcare” (Ladher, 2018). This is a prestigious journal in this field. And as a 30 year experienced nurse-educator yourself, I’m sure you are aware of the phenomenon itself where fear, mistrust, intimidation is very real in organizational cultures in the health field. Could you comment on this excerpt from Ladher (2018): “A key finding of the independent report into deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital, where around 600 people received fatal and medically unjustified does of opioids, was a hospital culture of uncritical deference to doctors and a fear of raising concerns.” Ladher goes on to note that the report mentioned calls for “ending professional hierarchies in clinical practice”—you wrote a book or two on this have you not? What’s your take on this kind of finding from such a report, and I am sure there are many other examples of such reports we could find all over in various nations and sectors of society?</p>
<p><strong>Nonye:</strong> First, from a practical perspective, I believe there needs to be further clarification of the latter part of Ladher’s article excerpt particularly on the “fear of raising concerns” within the hospital organization and how it may have contributed to the unfortunate fatal opioid overdosing of some 600 hospital residents.</p>
<p>I have written two books [4] in recent years on the issues of overcoming fears and anxiety in regard to the clinician-patient relationship—focusing on communication effectiveness as it relates to treatment effectiveness. This UK report creates more questions than answers. Did many patients’ hesitations and fears of expressing their opinions to their doctors and/or administration of the hospital contribute to strained dialogue and mistrust that made it difficult for the doctors to ascertain their pain levels accurately?</p>
<p>Did the doctors unwelcoming attitudes make it difficult for patients to be vulnerable and transparent about their pain levels? Did the nurses participate in assessing patients pain scales and response to opioid management?</p>
<p>If and when patients attempted to suggest alternate pain management plans, other than opioids (e.g., heating pads, NSAIDS, non-narcotics analgesics), was there a perception that doctors were not accommodating of their suggestions? Did the patients disclose these concerns to nurses and did the nurses fail to inform the prescribing doctors? Did such communication breakdown create a sense of patient dependency and the disastrous impact of opioid over-medication?</p>
<p><strong>RMF: </strong>You mention “communication breakdown.” You seem to frame everything in your analysis of your work on communication effectiveness? Is this something you were personally interested in, perhaps even before your training as a nurse? Where did that focus come from? It seems to be a lens you bring to determining what’s really important in reality.</p>
<p><strong>Nonye: </strong>Effective communication is achieved <em>via</em> a “two way venture” and this became apparent to me very early in life, as early as 5 years old. I was always an anxious child and grew up into an anxious adult, very eager to please others around me. The realization that I could dramatically reduce my state of anxiety by aiding someone else, by any possible means, to become less anxious while they interacted with me was my eureka moment! Noted in one of my study analyses was a disclosure from Dr Stephen Trzeciak, the chief of medicine at the Cooper University Healthcare in Camden, N.J. In his 2018 TEDx talk which explored the existence of a healthcare compassion crisis, I was fascinated by his mentioning of a stark difference between sympathy and compassion. Sympathy is characterized by feelings while compassion is characterized by actions. Thus the practice of strategic and compassionate engagement became an actionable effective tool which needed to be shared with other healthcare professionals and nursing/medical institutions.</p>
<div>By recognizing human characteristics and behaviors, and adjusting engagement approach strategically, healthcare practitioners can help reduce patients anxieties while promoting the chances of trust development complementary with compassion development. </div>
<div> </div>
<p><strong>RMF</strong><strong>: </strong>Oh interesting about your core childhood strategy. I would call that a core base for a <em>fear management system,</em> based on the need for social acceptance and comfort, which then becomes a form of social conformity, which then functions “well” not only to lower your anxiety but it maybe adaptable in a career choice, maybe in a society as a whole, where the strategy gets rewarded <em>via</em> the culture’s need for cooperation, consensus, and being a good workers—or a good person, etc. All that conforming, I suppose is anxiety-reducing too; yet, it can also exacerbate anxiety further below the surface. I know you also are somewhat of a rebel too (smile). </p>
<p>That’s very reasonable as a core fear management system, and is seen as part of the evolutionary history of our species; so, don’t get me wrong, in that I am not complaining about it, I’m more curious how it fits and works at one level; but my thinking is always critical and reflective too. I have mapped out at least 10 different fear management systems in human cultural evolution [5]—some which individuals may choose to stick with and sometimes they also change and evolve to meet newer challenging conditions when an individual or a culture is faced with bigger challenges that the old fear management system adaptations may start to fail to be serviceable. I guess, I’m always teaching people to examine both what fails and what works, when it comes to their fear management systems—and/or habits. Learn from both. There is always a possibility that even what “works” may have limitations and prevent growth and development. But that’s a larger topic, perhaps for another time. So, back to your professional work...</p>
<p><strong>Nonye:</strong> I learned long ago to ask a lot of questions when I see a problem like that described by the article above. If healthcare providers failed to consider patients’ contributions towards the treatment plan, did this lead to a situation where patients just continued to overly ingest opioids because “doctor knows best”? Did doctors uptight and unfriendly demeanor make it difficult for patients to inquire about the frequent dosing of their opioids because they were afraid to upset the doctors by “asking too many questions”?</p>
<p>These are some of the factors that could have contributed to this tragic and unfortunate event and I don’t particularly believe that Ladher’s singular suggestion for “ending professional hierarchy in clinical practice” is sufficient to adequately address this issue and prevent recurrence.</p>
<p><strong>RMF: </strong>I agree. If all an institution does, be it a medical and health one or not, is tweak the surfaces of the problems, and focus on the issue of “hierarchy” without focusing on the nature and role of fear, not much will change. I mean Ladher’s summary does note <em>fear is a factor</em>. That is not uncommon in issues when “culture of fear” is raised to a head as an organizational problem. The issue for me is that the thinking of “fear is a factor” is just too tame or euphemistic, and reductionistic. It tends to psychologize, even individualize, fear. It is easy to say “fear is a factor,” more or less—although, in some uptight fear-based organizations they won’t even allow that discussion to come to the surface. It is because “fear management” is a topic way off-the-radar. “Pain management” is on the radar, but not fear management. And, I’m generalizing but this is what seems to happen in health care generally. “Fear” is still like a taboo topic itself, often, and that’s what I see as a professional education and training deficit problem in many organizations. Have you noticed this? Have you thought about this, and what might be some solutions?</p>
<p><strong>Nonye: </strong>I totally agree with your assessment of the lax use of fear as a factor that impacts many events in healthcare practices and other organizations. More often than not, there seems to be a reluctance of organizations to delve deeper and discover the root causes of fears that affect the organizational culture and employee performance. This is an important aspect of quality performance process as it can ultimately provide clues for implementing changes that will positively impact an organization’s performance, in healthcare and otherwise.</p>
<p>As part of a quality performance assessment process, this could involve the act of organizational and individual self-reflection. It could sometimes be conducted <em>via </em>a self-assessment questionnaire. This process of reflection may quite frankly be a bit awkward for some but it’s a necessary step for unraveling and successfully addressing the causes of many fears in various institutions and making positive and lasting changes from the result of the revelation of such assessment processes.</p>
<p><strong>RMF: </strong>So what if “culture” or at least institutional culture is itself a phenomenon that is a defensive reaction against fear—as existentialists and social psychologists [6] say? What if the entire matrix of the system is so pathological and toxic, which is what “culture of fear” means?</p>
<p><strong>Nonye:</strong> Culture of fear in healthcare is a complex one influenced by many factors such as patients’ behaviors, perceptions, healthcare providers’ personal ethics and consulting styles with patients and their abilities to identify patient characteristics and apply appropriate communication styles that lead to more sincere and productive engagements with patients.</p>
<p>These factors must critically be addressed to help reduce the risks of such unfortunate events as reported at Gosport War Memorial hospital. When you speak of culture itself as virtually a fear-based reaction—a defense—and thus seemingly toxic inherently, I don’t know what to say but that’s not a familiar notion to me. Can you say more?</p>
<p><strong>RMF: </strong>Sure, but let me first define what a <em>culture of fear</em> is generically, as a dynamics of a living system. And to quote Furedi, “The term culture of fear works as a rhetorical idiom rather than as a precise concept. Its meaning is often far from clear.” [7] I tend to agree with him, in part. At least, this is what I came up with as a first working definition (and, I did not find it in the dictionary or a sociology encyclopedia or in Frank Furedi’s or Barry Glassner’s books, as useful as those resources may be at one level). Rather, I came up with this after reading hundreds of documents across history and disciplines: <em>culture of fear</em> – is when a system tries to manage fear and ends up creating more fear. It’s a paradoxical fear management regime, you might say. That creates a dilemma because one has to really ask about ‘who’ or ‘what’ to trust in terms of furnishing us as citizens, workers, and leaders with good knowledge on fear management in the context of a culture of fear?</p>
<p>And, without going into further theorizing, the basic thing I discovered is that most people assess the culture of fear based on ‘scientific’ and measurable things, like fear factors, mistrust factors, intimidation factors in the organization, and of course self-assessed fear(s), and so on. The standard psychological fare of applying tools to understand what is going on. But there was in none of the literature (virtually none) any consciousness on the part of the theorists, the professionals, or those creating the assessment tools, that (arguably) 90% of fear (which motivates us; often as anxiety) is <em>unconscious</em> and one doesn’t know the root cause <em>per se</em>. Now, that is my existential, psychoanalytical and fearological lens being applied for that conclusion.</p>
<p>You can see that I go deeper than a rationale based on communications or cognitive behavioral psychological modes <em>per se</em> in the pursuit of understanding <em>fear</em> or what I also call ‘fear’ (culturally modified fear – analogous to culturally modified organisms). The world hasn’t yet caught up with the complex morphing and evolving of ‘fear’ in ‘culture’ (i.e., within culturalism as ideology; i.e., within a culture of fear context)—I mean culturalism as the process of dominating belief systems (and taboos)—mostly that are culturally-created meaning systems as defenses against existential terror—and thus social fictions are used to avoid dealing honestly with that deep unconscious terror).</p>
<p>That’s just one part of my thesis here, then there are all the psychoanalytical implications of say “staff” working under “authorities” and so on. Or patients trying to survive under “authorities” who have at times, literally, control of their life—that is, control of their death. I have written some about that in my latest Technical Paper No. 98. With all these conflicting dynamics as part of communications and basic existence, there is often as Furedi described above, a competition of scaremongering going on as part of people trying to control their world. I don’t mean a natural control within reason, I mean an irrational neurotic and obsessive control. At times, some critics have said, today people are addicted to fear and that glues the whole culture of fear system together. I often meet people who cannot stand the word fearlessness because they say they want to keep their fear. And, I wonder exactly what they mean? Do they want to keep their addiction? Anyways, most people are just not well-enough educated on the history of the culture of fear phenomenon at the base of social life and cultural formations and evolution. Anyways, maybe that’s deeper than you are interested or see as practical in the workplace (?). I’m a fearologist so I cannot restrict myself in researching deeper on the topic of fear (and ‘fear’) and society.</p>
<p><strong>Nonye: </strong>Sure, I absolutely respect your deeper exploratory views on fear as a fearologist. I’m truly honored to have gained more insights from your work about these other aspects of fear management that I otherwise may not have been privileged to learn about. Thanks so much Michael for this interesting dialogue and I wish you much success in your upcoming book project on the past Democratic candidate Marianne Williamson [8].</p>
<p><strong>RMF: </strong>Not that there is any one clear all-decided definition of a fearologist and what they are supposed to do, but over 20 years ago, I made a commitment to be able to be informed enough, and maybe even bring some wisdom, to conversations about fear with virtually anyone, and especially to be able to do so across the disciplines and professions. So, it’s been great to have this conversation with someone in the field of Medicine and Health Care. That really means a lot to me. Thanks.</p>
<p>And as for Ladher’s comment, from a medical perspective in that article, my response is: <em>Let’s not overly jump ahead too far when we call out the problems of a culture of fear dynamic, and especially let’s not think that the culture of fear is only in some workplace, the home, the school or on the streets of some ghetto; my point in this dialogue has been to show, there is no “end of the culture of fear” per se, in the concrete sense—more so, there is an educational project that is required from K to 12 and beyond, across societies—whereby we actually teach about how best to educate ourselves on what fear is and what a culture of fear is that constitutes the way fear takes forms. All relationships are inducted into this matrix. Once we understand better, then we can start thinking about the “end of the culture of fear”—but, from my view, that means we have to end this Dominant culture that pervades, that oppresses, and transform its worldview to a new and better one—not based on fear itself. I posit a culture of fearlessness is the replacement. For some, they might say, a culture of love is the replacement. And, from that point of contention—is a whole other interesting dialogue to be had. </em></p>
<p><strong>End Notes:</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Furedi, F. (2018). <em>How fear works: Culture of fear in the twenty-first century. </em>Bloomsbury Continuum, p. 5. </li>
</ol>
<ol start="2">
<li>Fisher, R. M. (2020). Culture of fear: A critical history of two streams. Technical Paper No. 98. In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute. </li>
</ol>
<ol start="3">
<li>Fisher, R. M. (2004). <em>Capitalizing on fear: A baseline study on the culture of fear for leaders. </em>Intellectual Architects, Ltd. </li>
</ol>
<ol start="4">
<li>Aghanya, N. T. (2016). <em>Simple tips to developing a productive clinician-patient relationship. </em>iUniverse; Aghanya, N. T. (2019). <em>Principles for overcoming communication anxiety and improving trust. </em>Folioavenue Publishing. </li>
</ol>
<ol start="5">
<li>To study the 10 fear management systems, I argue is a way to expand one’s knowledge of a full spectrum of consciousness and cultural systems, moving from more simple and immature to more complex and mature (i.e., ultimately, towards an emancipatory pull to ‘freedom’ and/or ‘enlightenment’ whatever one wants to call it); see the 10 fear management systems documented in Fisher, R. M. (2010). <em>The world’s fearlessness teachings: A critical integral approach to fear management/education for the 21<sup>st</sup> century. </em>University Press of America/Rowman & Littlefield. </li>
</ol>
<ol start="6">
<li>E.g., see the work of cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker (<em>The Denial of Death</em>); and, the social psychologists who have ‘proven’ Becker’s theories and created “Terror Management Theory” (e.g., Sheldon Solomon et al.). </li>
</ol>
<ol start="7">
<li>Furedi, pp. 4-5. </li>
</ol>
<ol start="8">
<li>She is referring to Michael’s book soon to be released by Peter Lang, Inc. entitled: “<em>The Marianne Williamson Presidential Phenomenon: Cultural (R)Evolution in a Dangerous Time.” </em>Nonye wrote an endorsement review about the book, “The gradual advances of a change agent may encounter numerous hiccups on its pathway to implementing change; but with honesty, grace and compassion the committed will forge ahead towards success. The book reflects such a journey of both the author and his subject. R. Michael Fisher, in both an exploratory and objective fashion, provides riveting detailed accounts of many observers who have encountered the remarkable social phenomenon, which has grown in and around a once American presidential candidate—Marianne Deborah Williamson, a true change agent. One must applaud her clear moral stance as a driver of a movement gaining momentum because of this quality of leadership, with a mission for pursuit of greatness in service of others....It is a democratic mission not driven by personal gain but rather driven by eternal fulfilment and the awareness that the benefits of righteousness far exceed those of condemnation. We really need this ‘message’ today.”</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Nonye T. Aghanya</strong>, MSc., RN, FNP-C, nurse, nurse educator, author, mother and so much more. Originally from Nigeria, she moved as a young person to the USA, now living in Alexandria, VA. [for a recent 30 min. talk on her work go to: <a href="https://bit.ly/3k6HB1X">https://bit.ly/3k6HB1X</a> ]</p>
<p><strong>Michael Fisher</strong>, Ph.D., artist, educational theorist, author and teacher, has dedicated his life-purpose to the study of fear and fearlessness. He was born and raised in Calgary, AB and after traveling and working internationally, he has returned to Calgary to live and spread the word.</p></div>FearTalk 9: Solomon & Fisher in Dialoguehttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/feartalk-9-solomon-fisher-in-dialogue2020-05-05T02:08:21.000Z2020-05-05T02:08:21.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4740036085,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4740036085,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="503" alt="4740036085?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a></p>
<p>Dr. Sheldon Solomon, co-founder of Terror Management Theory, dialogues with R. M. Fisher on Jeff Gibbs' new controversial film "Planet of the Humans" (2020). In FearTalk 9</p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXzUhVTYdb8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXzUhVTYdb8</a></p></div>New Psychology for Extreme Times: Video by RMFhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/new-psychology-for-extreme-times-video-by-rmf2020-04-06T17:20:24.000Z2020-04-06T17:20:24.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4343793888,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4343793888,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="411" alt="4343793888?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>To see new teaching video by RMF <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcp0Sv8SNLA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcp0Sv8SNLA</a></p></div>My Critique of DeSteno's Coronavirus Advicehttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/my-critique-of-desterno-s-coronavirus-advice2020-03-14T17:00:50.000Z2020-03-14T17:00:50.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}4105842557,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}4105842557,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="4105842557?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="913" height="513" /></a></p>
<p>So there are many issues I am critical of when any Authority assigns itself to "protect" the people (often, meaning, protect the State power/authority/order): it is political as well as a psychological situation re: our health as citizens. Long ago researchers have shown that "shock doctrine" policies and "crisis" politics is a big power/business construction that is manipulative of people, mainly by using their fear and inserting (more or less) forms of authoritarian propaganda to add to the hypnosis of the moment when people are scared/terrified etc. There is basically a danger of transgressing (excessively) human rights in these situations of declared "emergency state" or "pandemic" etc. See one author who has snooped this out already around the coronavirus... <a href="https://nationalpost.com/opinion/marni-soupcoff-outbreaks-are-not-an-excuse-to-trample-on-our-rights">https://nationalpost.com/opinion/marni-soupcoff-outbreaks-are-not-an-excuse-to-trample-on-our-rights. </a></p>
<p>As critical citizens, we have to be questioning of all Authority, no matter in what situation. One doesn't have to be a conspiracy theorist but one has to be vigilant to oppression that is subtle and systemic--and has been historically used against people's freedoms. For more background on mis-uses of "emergency time" constructions by Authorities and repercussions, see the great book by critical pedagogy Henry A. Giroux (2003). "The Abandoned Generation: Democracy Beyond the Culture of Fear" (NY: Palgrave/Macmillan). </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></div>Mutuant Open-System Questioning: Fear and Macroevolutionhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/mutuant-open-system-questioning-fear-and-macroevolution2019-12-15T00:53:34.000Z2019-12-15T00:53:34.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3770518069,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3770518069,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3770518069?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="630" /></a></p>
<p>--------------------------</p>
<p>The above chart is particularly of interest to transhumanists who belive in change dynamics and evolution endlessly moving on into dimensions that 'stretch' (include but transcend) the very nature of humans, human nature, and humanity itself and what we call "life" (and Life) itself. Often mathematical paradigms, computational paradigms and good ol' creative extremism is brought into this mixture of futuristic and hybridizational thinking-- that is "transhumanism"-- as both vision, ideas, perhaps even ideologies. But those controversies I'll leave for others to discuss. I just read parts of an edited book by Lee, N. (2019). <em>The Transhumanism Handbook. </em>Springer. [charts from p. 760 by Selariu]</p>
<p>Very serious writers, thinkers, innovators and some 'mutants' in the current normal pool of psycho-cultural-sociological happenings. I looked up "fear" and was curious what positive transformational people were thinking in this book. I find it interesting. I would have liked to see a lot more on "fear" as a topic but I found this diagram of particular usefulness to my work and I think anyone ought to pay attention to this in the domain of Fear Studies, fearism, fearology etc. In particular look at the major factors on the left-side charts of what most limits the macroevolution of systems in an Intelligent (Information-driven) universe-- and, yes, I agree with this side for sure-- all of the aspects there are crucial and "culture of fear" (i.e., a human, humanity defined by pain/fear/reactions and neuro-sociological pressures to conform to that base structural brain-system of "survival" above all else)-- are top of the list. I am not at all surprised this is being critiqued, as well it should, by some transhumanists. Yeah!!!! </p>
<p>Indeed, my whole domain of work is about re-imagining and transcending the 'Fear' Project... now, that's a long story and theory and ends with a promotion of a (perhaps mutational) idea of a new Fearlessness Psychology just read to be born in this living world here on Earth-- and the sooner the better! </p></div>US President Hopeful Tells It Like It Ishttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/us-president-hopeful-tells-it-like-it-is2019-09-20T21:53:53.000Z2019-09-20T21:53:53.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3582484600,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3582484600,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3582484600?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Climate crisis</strong> as part of an amoral economic system is part of Marianne Williamson's presidential campaign to tell the American people the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The question is, will the people be able to handle the truth? Fear can play it's own game of denial and forget, suppression and repression, and unfortunately I predict more and more people will carry on as 'business as usual.' Meanwhile, things will only get worse--and, deep below the surface of suppression and repression--eventually, more and more people will be overcome by the unconscious and collective fear/terror that's inevitable. Williamson teaches Love over Fear, Love as the solution to Fear-- and, so, you'd think perhaps a lot more people would 'rise up' and join her Revolution to transform America and the future. She will not be able to do it alone. </p>
<p>See my series of two videos on Williamson ... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDlATRUYLM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDlATRUYLM</a></p></div>Important Fear Studies Professor on Culture of Fearhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/important-fear-studies-professor-on-culture-of-fear2019-09-09T13:12:41.000Z2019-09-09T13:12:41.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3548039946,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3548039946,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3548039946?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="329" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>This book published by Bloomsbury Continuum (2018), is by Dr. Frank Furedi, emeritus professor of sociology in the UK. He is one of the leading thinkers and writers on the "culture of fear" phenomenon and I highly recommend this book (and his many others). It raises very important questions as to what kind of society we want to live in and how we can change the direction we are currently proceeding. Here's a small excerpt from the first few pages of the book: </p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3548043066,RESIZE_930x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3548043066,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3548043066?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>------------</p>
<p>I first contacted Frank Furedi by correspondence in 1997 after his first book on this topic and he was gracious to send me some scanned pages of the book so I could study it and it had a strong influence on how I think about fear overall. He's recently taken up my offer to dialogue with him on fear later this year for a possible article we'll co-write for the <em>International Journal of Fear Studies</em> (Issue 3, in early 2020). </p></div>Culture of Fear & Education: New FearTalk 6 & 7https://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/culture-of-fear-education-new-feartalk-62019-08-31T02:09:51.000Z2019-08-31T02:09:51.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p>I'd like you to meet Debbie L. Kasman, an integral educator in Canada, someone I have just done a long dialogue with on fear in education. She is also taking on the writing of a book (with me) on my work making it more accessible to the populus, to school teachers, parents, etc. Check out the dialogue <a href="http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ8TixnvHuc" target="_blank">FearTalk 6</a>: </p>
<p>This is 6th in the series FearTalks originated by fearologist Dr. R. M. Fisher. He invites Kasman to discuss fear and education, especially in the light of recent terrorism, mass murders and schooling communities reacting to it, including now the marketing of bullet-proof kid's backpacks. They discuss how fear is the opportunity (door) to fearlessness on the way to Love. A good video for school superintendents, policy makers, teachers, principals, parents etc. We talk about philosopher-theorist Ken Wilber in this video and the AQAL and Integral perspective, so for more on this see my video: <a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPl3-ANv308">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPl3-...</a> Debbie's Bio & Website (for more info.): <a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?v=WQ8TixnvHuc&redir_token=T2o52s-GCh5oGu_ma98JaYqRhfV8MTU2NzMwMzU2N0AxNTY3MjE3MTY3&event=video_description&q=http%3A%2F%2Fdebbielkasman.com%2F" target="_blank">http://debbielkasman.com/</a> Debbie L. Kasman, a Canadian educator interested in transformative, holistic and integral education, is the author of: “LOTUS OF THE HEART: RESHAPING THE HUMAN AND COLLECTIVE SOUL”--a former principal, acting interim superintendent, and student achievement officer at the Ministry of Education in Ontario with a career spanning over 28 years in Ontario. Debbie recently trained with Ken Wilber – a scholar of the Integral stage of human development. Wilber also taught and influenced Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Bill Clinton, and John Mackey. Debbie has lots to say about the need to transform education. She also writes about female leadership, equity and spirituality. The New-York Times Bestselling author, Daniel H. Pink, placed Debbie’s blog on his Reader Recommended List in December 2016. Four Arrows (aka Dr. Don T. Jacobs), Indigenous educator, is also referred to in this talk: See Fisher's book "Fearless Engagement of Four Arrows: The true story of an Indigenous-based Social Transformer" (Peter Lang, 2018).</p>
<p>See <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlkclDeRKpA" target="_blank">FearTalk 7</a> as well...</p>
<p>----------</p>
<p>ALSO, as an aside and complementary article on culture of fear and the role it plays in Education (especially, regarding higher education and the loss of intellectual inquiry) see Frank Furedi's article "he Campus Culture of Fear" --here's an excerpt from the article on the Internet: </p>
<p>A climate of fear is inhospitable to the cultivation of academic relationships and the pursuit of intellectual inquiry. Take the growing stigma attached to the term “controversial speaker.” Once, controversy was seen as essential to the workings of an academic community; nowadays, many university administrators fear controversy to the point that they have designed policies to marginalize or ban provocative speakers altogether, as the title of a Xavier University publication—<em>Controversial Speakers and Events: Strategies for Risk Management</em>—demonstrates.</p>
<p>Arguably, the most regrettable feature of the campus culture of fear is the toll that it takes on human relations. People censor themselves vigilantly. Like other academics, I have been warned that it’s unsafe to shut my office door when I talk to a student. And as relations between academics and students become less spontaneous and more formal, the ancient role of mentor or interlocutor gives way to that of service provider or bureaucrat. The psychic distancing of members of the academic community from one another is the unacceptable price we pay for our obsession with campus “safety.”</p>
<p class="byline"><em><a href="https://www.city-journal.org/contributor/frank-furedi_1280" target="_blank">Frank Furedi</a>’s new book, </em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/147294772X/manhattaninstitu/" target="_blank">How Fear Works: Culture of Fear in the 21st Century</a><em>, will be published soon</em></p>
<p class="byline"><em>----------</em></p>
<p class="byline"><em>AND ANOTHER RECENT article on the negative impact of school lockdown drills that children in the USA are continually exposed to: see</em></p>
<p class="byline"><em><a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/05/lockdown-drill-fear/589090/">https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/05/lockdown-drill-fear/589090/</a></em></p>
<p class="byline"> </p></div>Cornel West, and the Left, on Fearlessnesshttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/cornel-west-on-fearlessness2019-07-27T14:50:51.000Z2019-07-27T14:50:51.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3388115368,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}3388115368,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="3388115368?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="357" height="192" /></a></p>
<p>"I'm very grim, and down and out," says Emeritus professor Cornel West in a recent interview. He was responding to Anderson Cooper's (CNN host) about the current Trump rally in the US and people chanting to "send her home" referring to a Congress Woman (of color). Indeed, West has long been a Left intellectual and anti-racist advocate and scholar and he is no doubt reflecting a mood many are feeling in the USA and a lot of the world that has strong racist-right-wing elements rising to power these days. </p>
<p>Why <strong><em>doesn't</em></strong> Cornel West, this great liberation (populist, intellectual) leader of our times talk about "fearlessness"? [1]</p>
<p>Of course, relevant to the Fearlessness Movement, I ask myself if Cornel West is a proponent of "fearlessness" in his philosophy, his Christianity, his radical left Black activism? And, upon my preliminary searching I found, just like in his recent talk with Cooper, he barely mentions fear itself and when he does he usually is talking about angst and nihilism (as loss of hope and growth of meaninglessness) as a collective dis-ease in American society. Fear as a term is never usually mentioned more than 5 times in any of West's many books, and best sellers. I wonder why? And, in his recent talk with Cooper he will admit he is "down and out" in psychic temperament in relation to the rise of White Supremacism ideology in his country (again). He's old and tired, but he's not without a bit of spirit to fight. So, next after his grim response he says to Cooper and the audience that (paraphrasing) 'we must in this time especially have moral fortitude and courage' and that's what he and all the down-trodden people have always had when they are oppressed and the fight will continue until they find their victory and justice, no matter what happens in the meantime. </p>
<p>"Moral courage" is the fav phrase in West's discourses, which has a long tradition (e.g., black liberation theology) in the justice movements of history. I see this as a particular fear management system (FMS-5 with some FMS-6)--and, it is basically modernist. It is about the individual (and society) under oppression fighting back and not letting fear of oppressors, nor internalized fear destroy you and your integrity and your will to keep fighting back, even if the odds are tremendously against you gaining much in the bigger political world. "Hope" is also his fav concept to accompany "moral courage." This is the basis of ethical philosophy behind West's popularity and stardom. He attracts great followings of people from the Left especially, and I'm noticing a lot of young men are really admiring West's character and intellectual prowess--and, see him as a hero in the nightmares of the times of post-truth bullshit that is invading most all of America day to day. The young men are scared as I see it, and rightfully so, and they are looking for leaders who speak to them and impress them as having the 'best' analysis. And, true, West is "brilliant" and "warm" and "sharp" at the mouth. He's very hip too! </p>
<p>But my critique is that "moral courage" is not sufficient to deal with Fear's Empire, the 'Fear' Matrix of which America and the rest of the world is being swallowed up and coded into moment by moment. Moral courage, hope, and love, as the prophetic voice has always offered since ancient times, right up to the present modernist values and virtues of a Christian like West, are helpful, but not enough; from a <strong><em>fearlessness meta-psychological perspective</em></strong>, that is [2]. Listen to West (from his best selling book <em>Race Matters</em> (1993/2017):</p>
<p>"Being a hope is being in motion, on the move with body on the line, mind set on freedom, soul full of courage, and heart shot through with love. Being hope is foraging moral and spiritual fortitude.... being willing to live and die for the empowerment of the wretched [oppressed] of the earth." (p. xxiv) [3].</p>
<p>For three decades, I have advocated and argued, that if one trully penetrates into the nature and role of fear, across the spheres of Natural, Cultural and Spiritual realities, from a critical holistic-integral perspective--then, fearlessness will be understood like never before too. This new understanding of fear and fearlessness repositions many things from a moral and ethical and philosophical perspective--and, one major outcome is that when operating from Fearlessness there is no need to constantly boost "hope" and "love" and "empowerment" as does the modernist approach to activism and liberation. I am not dissing these modernist and even premodernist traditions of liberation, I am merely claiming they are largely out-dated and need a serious upgrade. And, that critique, no matter how much I publish and speak about it is still largely ignored by West, and so many of his contemporaries. </p>
<p>As much as I so respect Cornel West as a leader today, it is disturbing he has not picked up on the great liberation traditions (at a minimum) and thus talked a lot more about fear and fearlessness. As I said, less than 5 pages in any of his books is on "fear" and when he talks about it usually it is rather thin and about "fears" --not seeing that the entire study of fearism-t (at the base of all oppression - ism diseases) requires so much more than moral courage, hope and love. It requires an incredibly systematic study of fear itself (and 'fear', as I argue)--it requires Fearlessness which is a meta-psychology (and philosophy) and methodological re-orientation that directs our gaze and analysis to something much deeper at-cause of our worst human behaviors, individually and collectively. Fear is not a factor, as West makes it out to and as that modernist discourse does as well. Talk about a "culture of fear," a "fear lens" a 'Fear' Matrix, etc., and then we'll realize we are up against an enormous power and complex of external and internal structures in everyday life that keep us "afraid" and, to then, even at times encourage us to thus be "courageous"--but, the latter encouragement actually supports us being more afraid so that we'll develop more courage--it's an ironical productive cycle of 'Fear' as oppression itself. That's not the kind of critical self-reflection you will find amongst the Left (or West) of their very notion of "moral courage" (and hope and love) and how they too are tainted already from the start when one lives in Fear's Empire. Everything is tainted with fear ('fear')--and that's what makes an oppressive society work so well (said, in sarcasm). So, no, I am not big advocate for "courage" alone as a fear management system (discourse) that will get us very far with liberation on the scale and with the depth I am talking and theorizing about. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I have learned that people don't want to do the work of discovering Fearlessness in this meta-context I propose and teach about. I am no celebrity, like a West, and likely never will be, but I will live and die attempting to show people we can do better than "moral courage" discourses and actions--even if, I admit, those may be better than nothing--but I will argue, they are going to be 'too little too late' unfortunately. That's a larger conversation, I'm always glad to engage with you all. </p>
<p>Notes:</p>
<p>1. I have tried email contacting him and sharing with him my work but to no avail, he typically doesn't respond or engage the work. Only once did I find in several of his books one reference where he used "fearlessness" (per se), and that was in his talking about his appreciation of the "New Black Panther Party.... they have a certain fearlessness like Malcom [X]" (West & Buschendorf, 2014, n.p.). But West doesn't define the term. See West, C., & Buschendorf, C. (2014). Black prophetic fire. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. See also my criticism of American pragmatist philosophy (Fisher, 2015) in general and its domination of American ideas, culture and society, of which I find Cornel West is susceptible to in his discourse (and ideology): Fisher, R. M. (2015). What is the West’s problem with fearlessness? Technical Paper No. 53. Carbondale, IL: In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute.</p>
<p>2. I am currently writing a new book "A Fearlessness Meta-psychology" for the 21st century. See also my Fisher, R. M. (2019). Fearlessness psychology: An introduction. Technical Paper No. 79. Calgary, AB: In Search of Fearlessness Research Institute. </p>
<p>3. West, C. (2017). <em>Race matters, 25th anniversary. </em>Boston, MA: Beacon Press. </p></div>Call for a Study of "Eco-Fear": Long-term Projecthttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/call-for-a-study-of-eco-fear-long-term-project2019-05-18T22:39:22.000Z2019-05-18T22:39:22.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><strong>HOW AFRAID SHOULD WE BE?</strong><a id="_ftnref1" href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1">[1]</a><strong>:</strong> <strong>Case of Climate Change Today</strong>               - rmf May 18/2019</p>
<p> <em>The fear of eco-turbulence is the greatest one.</em></p>
<p><span style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><em style="font-weight: inherit;">This eco-fear must be made positive fear to prevent the possible disaster. </em></span><strong>                                                                                                                                                           </strong>- Bhawani Shankar Adhikari<strong><a id="_ftnref2" href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2">[2]</a></strong></p>
<p>         <span style="font-size: 12pt;">    Preamble</span></p>
<p> I too, like Adhikari and other fearists (of recent expressions), am seeing something powerful amidst the current <em>zeitgeist</em> on the planet in general, of something which could be called “<em>eco-fear</em>.” This is the fear related to eco-issues (i.e., environmental and global issues of great ecological consequence to quality of life (and Life itself) in the early part of the 21<sup>st</sup> century).</p>
<p>I have written about this topic off and on, not the least of which was my series of technical papers on what Simon Estok calls “ecophobia” and its importance in literary criticism and beyond.<a id="_ftnref3" href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3">[3]</a> Many issues are thus being raised about the relationship between <em>eco</em> and <em>fear</em> that require more analysis and perhaps ‘better’ guidance than so far offered by anyone thinking about this. I’ll attempt to move forward this discussion and offer some direct guidance as consulting to eco-fear—and, I think I can do that best through a case study, albeit, it is more imagined for me personally at the moment than real. That is, climate change education (CCE) of which some in the literature refer to it as merely “climate education” but it is assumed they are speaking about “change” and big changes in climate—that is, global warming and the human-causation of that phenomena and the issues around how humans can mitigate the impacts of global warming crises upon us now and that are to become increasingly severe by most scientific predictions in the next decade or less—to the point, where mass extinctions of species and perhaps, more or less, our own species is immanent as is the product of great risk of toxification that will destroy life-sustainability on planet Earth.</p>
<p>I will not here, go into an analysis of the toxification problem, that is global warming as part of the CCE curriculum per se—if anything, I will focus on the issue of “fear toxification” as one particular angle in the discussion, whereby over the last several years I have made the direct analogy between CO<sub>2</sub> rising levels of threat to Fear rising levels of threat<a id="_ftnref4" href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4">[4]</a>—both, with their interdependent relationship and mutual causality (arguably). I’ll not pursue this relationship in this paper further than this mention. There are other concerns I am focusing on here and they can simply be wrapped-up in and around the question I ask myself in this context of toxification, <em>How afraid should we be?—</em>while, I realize that is not the only or even the ‘best’ question—it is one I think is rich with heuristic value to pursue.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">My First Thoughts and Question(s)</span></p>
<p>If I (or any fearist) puts themselves into the situation of answering this question, several things arrive to be clarified, if not answered with a powerfully thought through rationale and direction:</p>
<p><strong>(a).</strong> in concrete, if I am teaching and/or advising the teaching of say “climate education” today (as it is sometimes called” and, I am also answering to the critique “Climate Education is Screwed Up” as a recent video announces [5] – I am also having to answer philosophically and pedagogically <em>how afraid should the students of such a</em> climate education (CE) be at the first, in the middle and at the end of the class or course, or lecture? How does “fear” (i.e., fearfullness) enter into CE and specifically my way of ‘best’ teaching CE and/or advising others to teach CE?</p>
<p><strong>(b)</strong> what theoretical and philosophical grounds (e.g., philosophy of fearism, and/or a General Fear Theory) can I draw upon to help analyze this questioning and calling as a fearist—and, how might I compare that guidance I seek be compared to some other guidance from other theoretical and philosophical grounds?—and, thus in that comparative analysis how I could make my ‘best’ recommendations to others in CE and/or follow the findings to my own curriculum and pedagogical design in the classroom?</p>
<p><strong>(c)</strong> if I was to analyze the already prevailing general critique (since the mid-1990s) that is substantive amongst diverse critics of a growing “culture of fear” phenomena –a critique that at times takes the provocative label by some writers as <em>“Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?” </em>[6]—there seems to be an important point of analysis required (fearanalysis) as to “why” and “how” this latter phenomenon is functioning already and this was showing itself (as a symptom) in a historical time when “climate” and the crisis around “global warming” were there but only minor in the <em>zeitgeist</em> of planetary consciousness—at least, it was much less than it is today and in the last decade of the 21<sup>st</sup> century’s unfolding... then, to analyze this I have to bring forward problematic issues that are in that particular historical discourse, and then bring them into light of my own search in (a.) above and ultimately to answering (b.) above.</p>
<p>No one has pursued, to my knowledge, this kind of in depth research project that (a.), (b.) and (c). involve—and, the time has come for this work to be done, and the sooner the better. It will take a dedicated number of individuals and a team (perhaps) to do a good job of this and prepare the material for publication. I’m inviting interested researchers and thinkers to consider my proposition. I myself have already begun this venture, however, I am only in the very early stages of organizing and designing how to proceed. It would also be great to acquire “gifting” and “funding” supports for such an initiative.</p>
<p> ****</p>
<p>NOTES</p>
<p><a id="_ftn1" href="#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1">[1]</a> See my recent 2019 teaching video : “The Great Collapse: How Afraid Should We Be?”</p>
<p><a id="_ftn2" href="#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2">[2]</a> Excerpt from April 25, 2019 FM blog (which Desh Subba and other fearists endorsed enthusiastically).</p>
<p><a id="_ftn3" href="#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3">[3]</a> See Fisher (2018) tech papers No. 66-70.</p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong><a id="_ftn4" href="#_ftnref4" name="_ftn4">[4]</a> For e.g., <a href="https://fearlessnessmovement.ning.com/photos/co2-fear-chart">CO2 FEAR chart</a> Posted by <a href="https://fearlessnessmovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher">R.Michael Fisher</a> on September 11, 2015.</strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><strong>[5].  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXuzdoKs9pI" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXuzdoKs9pI</a></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">[6] For e.g., Cohl, H. A. (1997). <em>Are we scaring ourselves to death: How pessimism, paranoia, and a misguided  media are leading us toward disaster. </em>NY: St. Martin's Griffin. </span></p>
<p> </p>
</div>How Will Love Do It?https://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/how-will-love-do-it2019-02-21T05:08:20.000Z2019-02-21T05:08:20.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p>Just finished my Part 2 Video doing a fearanalysis of Marianne Williamson's campaign so far: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDlATRUYLM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDlATRUYLM</a></p>
<p>The Marianne Williamson campaign-- questions are being asked as in this Forbes magazine article on MW... [see also <a href="https://fearlessnessmovement.ning.com/blog/psychological-problem-in-america-new-politics-of-love-and-fear" target="_blank">my blog</a> a few posts ago on this ning]</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}1170269666,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}1170269666,RESIZE_710x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="628" alt="1170269666?profile=RESIZE_710x" /></a></p>
<p>Warrell, a fan of MW, asked (as many will) in this article ending: </p>
<p>"Will love win out over fear in a political system that seems to so richly reward those who are most masterful in manipulating fear in their favor? Time will tell." </p>
<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2019/01/29/marianne-williamson-can-love-transcend-fear/#6cc095f4141b">https://www.forbes.com/sites/margiewarrell/2019/01/29/marianne-williamson-can-love-transcend-fear/#6cc095f4141b</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>ALSO, my daughter (Vanessa) interviewed in a podcast Marianne in 2012, well worth listening to: <a href="http://www.poetic-justice.ca/for-the-love-of-social-change--interview-with-marianne-williamson" target="_blank">http://www.poetic-justice.ca/for-the-love-of-social-change--interview-with-marianne-williamson</a> --at one point Marianne says, "forces of fear are intensifying; forces of love are intensifying" -- sounds a lot how I think too but my philosophical and theoretical frame looks at this as forces of fear/fearlessness are intensifying... </p>
<p> </p>
<p>[AND NOW FOR REAL RESULTS of MW's accomplishments [Jan. 23/24]: (a) she dropped out in 2020 just before the Primaries as she didn't have the polling numbers to warrant keeping on going and spending all that campaign costs and, (b) she made it to the Primaries (New Hampshire) and she bombed out at only 5% of Dem voters there, and her new competitor Dean got 20% and did so in 1/2 the time Williamson did. I predict MW will drop out of this 2nd race for President. See my new video on this I will put up soon on my Youtube Channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@r.michaelfisher7930/videos">https://www.youtube.com/@r.michaelfisher7930/videos</a></p>
<p> </p></div>Permaculture Movement: Ecological to Social Rejuvenationhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/permaculture-movement-ecological-to-social-rejuvenation2018-12-23T15:29:56.000Z2018-12-23T15:29:56.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/479697935?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/479697935?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="314" height="314" /></a></p>
<p>The Permaculture Movement is a fast growing alternative to the way we modern humans have been living. Rather than drawing from profit-centered and self-ishness principles, this new form of environmental-human design draws from Nature and Indigenous ways that have long-survived and thrived because they are "connected" to the way life on earth works. </p>
<p>I've been interested for some time about how environmental and ecological principles, and now the permaculture principles of sustainability can be applied to human sociality and human health and sanity. I am curious to begin developing connections with what I have taught for decades as a Healing Culture (based on fearlessness) vs. a Coping Culture (based on fear). At this time, the people using the permaculture ideas have not tended to fully understand the coping and healing distinction in regard to very basic social practices (like Liberation Peer Counseling). </p>
<p>So, I encourage others to look at permaculture principles and teachings and see how this movement is dealing with fear and fearlessness and hurting and healing notions. </p>
</div>FearTalk2 (video): Fear of Eternity & Other Thingshttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/feartalk2-fear-of-eternity-other-things2018-11-22T13:27:13.000Z2018-11-22T13:27:13.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p>For my latest <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYEQJzdkjjA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FearTalk2</a> video with Luke Barnesmoore, an up and coming young philosopher (doctoral candidate) from the Geography department of The University of British Columbia: </p>
<p>Description of what is on this video: </p>
<p>This is a lively (sometimes heavy) discussion between two perceptive philosophical thinkers as comfortable with vulnerable intimacy and abstract ideas as they are savvy with the aesthetics of oppression (via fear of the Eternal) and the many neurotic loops of fear-based escape routes from the Real. With a deep concern for finding the best ways to build a healthy and sane society, their Integrating of East-West, Indigenous and ecological knowledges brings forward a synthesis of ideas to be reckoned with. Dr. Fisher, founder of The Fearology Institute and Luke Barnesmoore a doctoral student in the Geography department at The University of British Columbia (<a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" spellcheck="false" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=mmQwADu41r3XzZ2l_ciB4Cui6Ep8MTU0Mjk3OTM2N0AxNTQyODkyOTY3&q=https%3A%2F%2Fubc.academia.edu%2FBarnesmoore&event=video_description&v=MYEQJzdkjjA" rel="nofollow">https://ubc.academia.edu/Barnesmoore</a>) caress the contours of fear and fearlessness and the importance of admitting how much fear exists in most all places humans dwell in contemporary urban societies. if we are to avoid the worst catastrophe's of crises we face on the planet in the very near future, Fisher and Barnesmoore are sure that fear is going to be a major player in the outcomes. Note: Dr. Fisher's reference to his work with the A-D-Ness model ("test") re: an aesthetics of fear -- go to <a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" spellcheck="false" href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?redir_token=mmQwADu41r3XzZ2l_ciB4Cui6Ep8MTU0Mjk3OTM2N0AxNTQyODkyOTY3&q=https%3A%2F%2Ffiles.eric.ed.gov%2Ffulltext%2FED536976.pdf&event=video_description&v=MYEQJzdkjjA" rel="nofollow">https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED...</a> Also a discussion of A-D/ness can be found in Fisher's video "Do's and Don'ts of Fearology" <a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" spellcheck="false" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcNte9VjZB8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcNte...</a> A fitting poem that Barnesmoore wishes to share relevant to this discussion: "Each and All" …All are needed by each one; Nothing is fair or good alone. I thought the sparrow’s note from heaven, Singing at dawn on the alder bough; I brought him home, in his nest, at even; He sings the song, but it cheers not now, For I did not bring home the river and sky;— He sang to my ear,—they sang to my eye. The delicate shells lay on the shore; The bubbles of the latest wave Fresh pearls to their enamel gave, And the bellowing of the savage sea Greeted their safe escape to me. I wiped away the weeds and foam, I fetched my sea-born treasures home; But the poor, unsightly, noisome things Had left their beauty on the shore With the sun, and the sand, and the wild uproar… Then I said, “I covet truth; Beauty is unripe childhood’s cheat; I leave it behind with the games of my youth:”— As I spoke, beneath my feet The ground-pine curled its pretty wreath, Running over the club-moss burrs; I inhaled the violet’s breath; Around me stood the oaks and firs; Pine-cones and acorns lay on the ground; Over me soared the eternal sky, Full of light and of deity; Again I saw, again I heard, The rolling river, the morning bird;— Beauty through my senses stole; I yielded myself to the perfect whole.” (Emerson 1914, pp. 7-8)[1] Ralph Waldo Emerson 1914, The Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson Vol. V Poems, London: G. Bell and Sons, Ltd.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Also check out my 2nd part on FearTalk 3 video with Luke: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI3Gjn10t38">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI3Gjn10t38</a></p>
</div>Mixing Art, Activism, Education: Michael Moore's New Filmhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/mixing-art-activism-education-michael-moore-s-new-film2018-09-22T12:25:58.000Z2018-09-22T12:25:58.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/126652941?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/126652941?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710" /></a></p>
<p>Well, after a lot of years of making documentaries, in the 'wild' style of art, activism, and education... Micheal Moore has just had his newest film released last night (mostly on the Trump election and following disasters to democracy in the USA) and on "fear" (and "terror") of all kinds of fascist waves going on all over the world.. I look forward to seeing his latest film, and it is not because I love everthing Moore does and how he represents people and problems--the big and "wicked problems" that we have to face as humanity... but I like to see how he uses his art, smarts, and technologies to "create curriculum" for the 21st century.</p>
<p>I followed his work closely in the post-Columbine highschool mass shooting and how he approached the American "Gun Problem" (aka "Fear Problem") in his movie that won an Academy Award, <em>Bowling for Columbine" </em>(2002). </p>
<p>I won't say much more at this point until I see the film, and listen to interviews of Moore... with the question in the back of my mind: "Is Moore a good artist, activist, educator?" and so far, I think he is a better artist-activist than he is an educator, and particularly I am referring to how he handles "fear" as a major topic... which runs all through all his best documentary works... in <em>Bowling for Columbine</em> he really was making a film about the growing "culture of fear" ... and its consequences...which, arguably, I would speculate have been brewing for a good 30 years in particular, and the symptoms are arising (e.g., gun violence) etc... and if you watch his 2002 award winning film, it is the "best" dealing with fear as a topic... and of course terror is not far away... in <em>Fahrenheit 11/9</em> we'll no doubt once again see him dealing with "fear of Trump" and everything Trump represents ... watch carefully how he "teaches" us about what is going on and how best to understand fear/terror and how best to manage it... transform it... if he even gets to anything so complex... my critique of all his works (as he is a typical activist) is his stereotypes and polarizations (simplifications)--to create his stories. </p>
<p>RECENT VIDEO RESPONSE of mine to Moore's interview on "Democracy Now" tv program (with Amy Goodman): </p>
<p><a href="https://youtu.be/ga5BZfV5UnA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://youtu.be/ga5BZfV5UnA</a></p>
<p> Most recent video (2nd one) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJLdM85Rwts&t=4s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJLdM85Rwts&t=4s</a></p>
</div>New Philosophy of Fearism Book by Fisher, Subba, Kumarhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/new-philosophy-of-fearism-book-by-fisher-subba-kumar2018-07-30T05:26:25.000Z2018-07-30T05:26:25.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/55719725?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/55719725?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="327" height="462" /></a></p>
<p>For a <a href="https://vimeo.com/282746451?utm_source=email&utm_medium=vimeo-cliptranscode-201504&utm_campaign=29220" target="_blank" rel="noopener">book video trailer (click here)</a></p>
<p>To purchase the book online: <a href="https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=777056" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fear, Law and Criminology</a></p>
<p>We are (as co-authors), excited to see that our new book is available (by Xlibris publishing, Australia). This is the first book in a series of books that are going to be published over several years, as each one takes on a topic or critical issue in the world and applies the philosophy of fearism (a la Subba) to it. The original dialogues behind the making of this new book are all posted here on the FM ning and have been slightly modified in this new book, along with a lot of new material as well. We thought we'd include here the summary text from the back cover of the book and our brief bios: </p>
<p><em><strong>Fear, Law and Criminology</strong> -</em>With the growing awareness of many critics of "risk society," the "culture of fear" and the dangerous rising levels of unhealthy fear around individual, group, and public insecurities, three keen observers of the human condition have joined experiences, theories, and ideas to create a fresh vision for how best to look at the Fear Problem and how Law and Criminology may benefit from a new lens or perspective.</p>
<p>The authors, with their backgrounds in the study of the philosophy of fearism (a la Subba), bring a new lens to Law and Criminology, to social policies, politics, and policing and how best to improve enforcement of safety, security, and moral order. The fearist perspective of a philosophy of fearism creates an exciting, challenging, and sometimes radical position, whereby the authors argue that <em>fear itself</em> requires a concerted focus for analysis and solutions--that is, if Law and Criminology are to fully meet the highest standards of serving justice for all in a globalizing complicated world. </p>
<p>Going beyond the simple fear of crime or fear of policing issues commonly dealt with in discourses about law, the philosophy of fearism offers other concepts with a rich vocabulary introduced in this book, one of which is the introduction of a new subdiscipline called <em>fearcriminalysis</em>. Readers will find, in addition to the main text as collective writing of the three coauthors, several fresh dialogues of the three authors in conversation, which bring their individual personalities, philosophies, and approaches into a weaving of differenes and similarities. Overall, they each agree that fear has been underestimated and often misinterpreted in Law and Criminology, and this has resulted, at times, in exacerbating insecurity, crime, and injustice in the world. </p>
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<p><strong>R. Michael Fisher</strong>, Ph.D., Adjunct Faculty, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, AB, is a Canadian philosopher, educator and fearologist, having studied fear from a transdisciplinary perspective for three decades. He is founder of The Fearology Institute, a professional training program, and author of hundreds of articles and several books, including <em>The World's Fearlessness Teachings.</em></p>
<p><strong>Desh Subba, </strong>livess in Hong Kong. He is a Nepali philosopher, poet, writer and founder of the philosophy of fearism and Fearism Study Center in Nepal. Author of several books and articles, his pivotal award-winning textbook is <em>Philosophy of Fearism. </em></p>
<p><strong>B. Maria Kumar, </strong>living in India, is a long-term career police officer, recently retired as Director General of Police in Bhopal. He has published many books, such as <em>Policing By Common Sense, </em>and <em>To Be or Not to Be Happy.</em></p>
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</div>"Fearless Engagement of Four Arrows": Book by R. M. Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/fearless-engagement-of-four-arrows-new-book-by-r-michael-fisher2018-05-02T22:50:32.000Z2018-05-02T22:50:32.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/14610348?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/14610348?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="382" height="573" /><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 8pt;">Book Cover- [photo of Four Arrows by Beatrice Jacobs]</span></a></p>
<p>I  would like to share with you my <strong>new book</strong> soon to come out in <strong>July, 2018</strong> <span style="font-size: 8pt;">(New York: Peter Lang).</span> For an advanced look at the book's content see a <a href="https://vimeo.com/265228513" target="_blank" rel="noopener">short book video trailer</a> and the <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/14611366?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FE brochure 2018.pdf</a> (4 pp) I created here. <a href="https://www.fourarrowsbooks.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four Arrows</a> (aka Dr. Don Trent Jacobs) is an FM ning member. Feel free to pass on these promotional materials to your networks and those you feel would be interested. Thanks.</p>
<p>I'll be writing more about this book on the FMning in future blogs. I'll leave you with one excerpted quote by <strong>Four Arrows</strong> (interviewed by me) from the book: </p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">"In my mind, this mass hypnosis syndrome, I now call Trance-based Learning (TBL) gone awry, is the only explanation that makes sense of how modern educated societies, especially, have rationalized their technologies of domination, their polluting of their own nest, and their addictions to ways of life that paradoxically destroy Life. My own vision of rehabilitation from this destructive path is that Fear and courage concepts are essential to understand as they drive learning and development in a 'good way' or 'bad way'....I offer an intentional transformation learning theory and critical praxis as an initiative to build a society and world that is able to resist and reconstruct current hegemonic fear-conditioning--the latter, which has unfortunately become 'normal' socialization--a 'culture of fear.'" <span style="font-size: 10pt;">(p. 2)</span></span></p>
</div>"Fear has no place...": Rhetoric of an American Movementhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/blog/fear-has-no-place-rhetoric-of-an-american-movement2018-04-30T22:47:18.000Z2018-04-30T22:47:18.000ZR.Michael Fisherhttps://FearlessnessMovement.ning.com/members/RMichaelFisher<div><p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/14590075?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/14590075?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="413" height="477" />Time Magazine Cover Image (revised by RMF)... Apr. 2, 2018</a></p>
<p>There's a churning of emotionalism and activism in America this year, especially this spring. I have posted a few blogs about youth (mostly in highschools) across America but also around the world, protesting "gun violence" in their schools and communities. They have picked various slogans and hashtags, but the one I think is most telling and interesting is <strong>"Fear has no place..."</strong> (and the usual term finishing that phrase, but not only one, is) "in our schools." Does this means American youth are protesting in record numbers publicly to say, "We want no fear in our schools? our societies?" --and, why are they not saying they want a "Fearless Society"? </p>
<p>I have just completed a new <a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/14661801?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tech Paper 76.pdf "Fear has no place..."</a>..": Youth movement for fearlessness in need of critique" which I would love if folks read and gave me feedback. In particular, I'd love this paper get out to youth who are in this movement and may we find ways to dialogue. </p>
<p>Also see Photo I recently posted of the images, t-shirts, mugs and commercialization that has already quickly adjoined itself to the youth protest movement. I very much wanted to see this movement as a Fearlessness Movement (see my blog post "March Without Fear"<a href="http://https://fearlessnessmovement.ning.com/blog/youth-s-march-for-our-lives-is-a-march-for-without-fear" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://fearlessnessmovement.ning.com/blog/youth-s-march-for-our-lives-is-a-march-for-without-fear</a></p>
<p>I really wonder where the "Fear has no place..." slogandia started? Maybe some of the readers here know. All I know is that, as a fearologist, this is the last thing to be voting for or marching up and down the streets for. Notice, I am not talking about the "gun problem" these young people are also addressing, but interestingly enough it has spread from there, the more concrete part of their activism, to an issue of "fear" (again, see the Internet and all the articles and images that have grown up around this notion of "Fear has no place in our schools" for example. </p>
<p>As a fearologist, and as one who articulates and follows the philosophy of fearism, and philosophy of fearlessness, everything tells me that the narrow and shallow notion of "Fear has no place" is quite the wrong direction to go if we really want to be liberating youth, school cultures, and society as a whole. It's too bad that phrase is a 'viral' catch phrase but perhaps with time and more deep thinking, and informing of the movement by fearologists, a more congruent message can be applied. The basic starting point is not to try to get rid of fear. That is casting it out like a mis-placed thing. Fear is us, as the saying goes. I cannot help but think youth in America have been disillusioned and or so brain-washed in some ways (not all), that they are taking on the politically and ideologically fraught with problems view of the "conservatives" in American culture and politics--that is, with their Zero Tolerance policies and practices. The very discourse (unfortunately) of the rebelling youth today in America is sounding an awful lot like a discourse that is from the elders they have been oppressed by for so long--that is, a Zero Tolerance policy of excluding "fear" from schools and well, where does that exclusion stop. It is ironic that this youth generation protesting is also the most articulate and delightful in supporting inclusion (diversity-- equals difference and the Other). But when it comes to "fear" they are saying it has no place in American schools, communities, and societies. This is a contradiction and a basically 'wrong-headed' strategy and rhetoric. </p>
<p>Again, this short blog is not my full argumentation re: the problem this declaration has brought forward. As a hint, I will say a much wiser declaration or wisdom comes from the elder African-American Black novelist Toni Morrison, 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature--where, she wrote about in her novel <em>Sula </em>on the very importance of Black People (generally, meaning the oppressed) to rather <strong>"make a place for fear"</strong> where it can be seen, worked with, and "controlled" (re: the character Shadrack in that novel)--and managed because it is known and studied and lived with in relationship because it is real. The African-American experience and guidance here is well worth looking at in terms of its contradictory message relative to the youth message today in America (and not only youth) of "Fear has no place...". Equally, in future writing on this, I'll examine Four Arrows' Indigenous-based theory of Fear [1] and why the native people and their worldview also are wise enough to know that the last thing we ought to be promoting anywhere are places where "fear" is not welcomed! It is rather astounding, on one level, that all the "fear-positive" literature and teachings since the 1990s in N.A. has had little to no uptake so it seems, at least, at this time for this youth movement [2].</p>
<p>I'll leave it here, with the dialectical thought that if one creates "no place for fear" likewise that is going to create "no place for fearlessness" --and, thus I see a lot of emotionalism and bravado in the new activism of youth today in America rather than true fearlessness. But that's not a put down or dismissing of the good spirit that is driving behind their efforts [3]--their peace, anti-gun, anti-violence anti-fear efforts... I applaud their heartfulness to find truth and justice, and yet, I am seeing how woundedness and trauma doesn't always analyze deeply enough the discourse of the oppressors--of the 'Fear' Matrix (culture of fear) that beseiges us all today--including youth in school cultures. </p>
<p>Notes: </p>
<p>1. See for e.g., Four Arrows (aka Jacobs, D. T.) (2016). <em>Point of departure: Returning to a more authentic worldview for education and survival. </em> Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. </p>
<p> 2. By "fear-positive" I am referring to literature from many disciplines and professionals, who have asserted that we need to shift from seeing fear as only negative to also seeing fear as positive, a gift and so on. For e.g., one of the most effective teachers of this has been de Becker, G. (1997). <em>The Gift of fear: Survival signals that protect us from violence</em>. New York: Bantam. </p>
<p>3. On the positive-side, I could argue a "spirit of fearlessness" is motivating their call, their 'truth-to-power' discourse. Another view is that from a nondual standpoint argument that could be made, as a colleague Luke Barnesmoore makes generically in an unpublished essay "<a href="https://www.academia.edu/36741744/Fear_and_Fearlessness" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fear and Fearlessness</a>" (in his larger collection of essays <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36261477/Nomadic_Exploration_of_Critical_Pedagogy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Nomadic Exploration of Critical Pedagogy"</a>) that: "I seek to emulate the Divine out of loving respect, not fear (which is a product of the potential for the Divine's privation in manifestation and has no place, in and of itself, in the eternal" (p. 7). Barnesmoore's argument is one from an absolutistic philosophy (spirituality) or what he calls the "Natural Worldview" of the "Nothing-Infinite Eternal and its emanations Force, Form and Consciousness" whose attributes inlcude Love, Truth, Reality, Beauty, Goodness, Unity, etc." Thus, arguably, one could take such a metaphysical principle and say that there may be wise truth practical and value in the rhetoric of "Fear has no place..." that the youth in America are manifesting in their own way, consciously or not. See Barnesmoore, L. (2018). Fear and fearlessness. Unpublished paper. A self-identified San Franciscan (California), Luke is currently a doctoral student in the Geography department, Co-Founder/Director of the <a href="https://www.geog.ubc.ca/ccis-urban-studies-lab/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UBC Urban Studies Lab</a>, at The University of British Columbia, Canada.</p>
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