Interdisciplinary Conference on Fear Studies (ICFS), would be a first of its kind in the world, in human history. The human Fear Problem is that bad, and anything less than a full interdisciplinary gathering is not going to be enough to turn the toxic concentrations of fear (and 'fear') around to live-able levels.
I envisioned this ICFS today and thought I'd put it out to people on the FMning, and others who may see this. So contact me if you are interested to explore a role for yourself in this concrete and very important event. It could be one to two or three years down the line for it to fall in place, but it will fall in place and organize... I just don't know when and right now I don't have any solid volunteers to draw upon for any of my research and educational work. And, of course, I'd love to find funding so people don't have to just volunteer either.
For point of interest, this conference would bring together as many diverse people who study fear (and/or fearlessness) in some way, so they can share their work, get to know each other and build a community to set goals for tackling the "wicked problem" of Fear. I know there are enough people out there working, often in their own isolation more or less--it's a matter of unifying our work and voices--and then, well... just about anything can happen with a team or group or international organization... whatever form evolves.
We have to start somewhere... this would be a conference open also to the public. Historically, this is not the first time I have wished to organize such an event. The major first thrust was in 1994-95, when a colleague [1] and I put many months into trying to get "Learning Under Fire" conference series going as a global event, with the first year being on the "Nature and Role of Fear"--in the widest sense. We got some interest, but not near enough, and we couldn't find the volunteers to help. It was laid to rest and I no longer am in contact with that individual. A lot has changed since the mid-90s... some twenty years has passed, and 9/11 and a whole lot more... surely, this time we may be more successful attracting attention.
So, give me a shout: r.michaelfisher52[at]gmail.com
End Notes
1. Ian Dakers
Comments
being creatively fearless and fearlessly creative seems like a worthwhile dialectic to explore in living :). thanks.
Hello michael, sounds like a great idea; however, i don't feel i can afford much volunteer work these days. I will mention your interest in such a conference to a professor I will hopefully be speaking to next week, since he is in an allied field. I can tell him about your book.
How you do see the relationship between creativity and fearlessness, in your approach?
Sounds good Durwin. Re: a relationship between creativity and fearlessness, it is a very general question so I'll give a general response... thanks for asking. If you want something more nuanced, I'd rather have a specific question. The literature I have studied across many disciplines, as well as "common sense" discourses in the public sphere, point to a basic contradiction (usually due to ill-defined terms: fear, creativity). The contradiction, to put it grossly sounds like this: "fear is a great motivator; it takes us out of our slump and laziness, etc. to create to meet the demands of the situation" (conservative-minded folks use this historically and politically and educationally, economically)--the extreme of that position which coasts alongside 'adversity is the mother of invention' is to create an enemy and war ('shadow') every once in a while to get people motivated to create and produce-- ok, there's enough partial truth in that to make it a pretty stable reality that is part of life and part of the management of creativity/innovation and of fear management tactics. The contradiction, is that there is a tonne of literature and experience that says that "fear inhibits creativity; delimits the breadth and depth of imagination for the 'new' and fear only reproduces more of the same old creativity that is not all that useful in new situations" -- something like that.
True fearlessness, as a path, as a fear management approach/system (integrally speaking) is one that I incorporate and take into account this (unresolved) contradiction in our discourses and positioning as a society. I'm speaking mostly of the W. thinking on these topics. My colleague Desh Subba (co-author of a philosophy of fearism) may have another view--but this is mine, at the moment. Sooner or later, we have to bring this contradiction 'on to the public agenda' because it requires debate, dialogue, nuanced presentation and synthesis from that democratic process towards knowledge--that is, knowledge of fear management.
The rest is complex to talk about. From my personal experience, the willingness to risk, be vulnerable, to risk to not know, to artistic original approaches-- all tells me that "creativity" can be fear-based or (more or less) non-fear-based--and, along the path of fearlessness is where one finds the latter. I believe my work on fear and fearlessness is both traditional (integrating past knowledges) and radically creative (i.e., fearlessly willing to go where most do not go). And, in the end, to pursue a creativity of fearlessness is going to get you in a lot more trouble, a lot more alienation, a lot more severe consequences for being a pariah. Arguably, the negative consequences of a fear-based creativity, perhaps useful for coping and short-term gap-filling, will catch up to itself--and implode, causing more destructivity and perhaps creating a waste of enormous efforts with it.
just now did a search for "global fear index", and this is what turned up: http://money.cnn.com/data/fear-and-greed/
http://money.cnn.com/data/fear-and-greed/
Likewise, I once looked up if anyone was recording a "fear index" to measure fear levels on the planet. I found the same site you did and isn't it interesting it revolves around markets/money (i.e., an economic discourse)--do you think that has something to say about a capitalist economic system and the W. world in general?