New teaching video (33 min.) by RMF "Resistance to Fear Understanding"
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I'm delighted to share with you a post-adult 45 yrs RMF 2019.pdf from a book on Integral Theory and Educational Research. This chapter overviews my 45 years learning/teaching career, my notion of post-adult education and more. There is one section (pp. 350) that I especially draw your attention to--which I'll quote in an excerpt here:
"I was attempting then (and still am) to create an entirely new second-tier curriculum of fear education ..."
"The leap was from a fear-based structure... to one that is no longer driven by fear as the primary motivator..."
"I called a fearlessness curriculum and pedagogy where the very notion of 'critical thinking' and 'critical theory' needed to be deconstructed and reconstructed..." (p. 350)
***
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.
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).
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.
I'd certainly rather talk about a much lighter topic than the near (potential) devastation of planet earth due to climate change and global warming caused by humans (e.g., CO2 and changing the surface of the earth so much it absorbs more heat)...
In the last few days myself and Barbara have been going through our own "existential crisis" as if it feels like at some point we just (really) GOT! the information of what is happening on the planet re: global warming and the reluctance of too many government and business leaders to ignore the impacts, when they could make substantial changes re: the biggest polluters, if they had the will to do so. Which means, if they had the moral courage, in the face of great social fear of being fully "green," of perhaps losing friends and losing money (at first)... and so on. It's risky to make the moral change in times like this.
I think the fearologists of the future (and today) will have to do their homework and really come up with ways to intervene in the way social fear gets in the way from all kinds of people and institutions changing in major ways. We need a (r)evolution of fearlessness. But over the last decade or so, even with calls for such radical shifts and such fearlessness, there is enormous inertia to do so. I find it a type of 'evil' that knows the problem but refuses to do anything about it (or does very little, and too late). Basic Premise: I have long theorized that the more the "terror" the more "fearless" as a new management system will arise and evolve and be available... the living cosmos is incredibly gifted to handle distress, fear/terror--we have to learned to pay attention to it's beautiful and available Defense Intelligence--and learn to work with it, and to "push" any lesser forms of defensive behaviors and thoughts toward a threshold where transformation can occur. It is not about being "hopeful" or "optimistic" for me, it is a matter of looking at the data and theorizing what has been happening on the planet re: Defense Intelligence (and, that is way beyond just humans, to be sure)....
Tipping points re: climate change and crisis after crisis on the planetary scale (e.g., major storms, extreme climate)... are more or less here on our door step. What we have to realize first, and it will be a great grief to admit, that humans (overall) have done some good things in evolution for sure, but late-industrial humanity and especially the urbanites, have now to 'take on' responsibility. A new book offers many creative ideas ("arts") etc. of how to live on this damaged planet. Here is the write up from amazon.com
"Living on a damaged planet challenges who we are and where we live. This timely anthology calls on twenty eminent humanists and scientists to revitalize curiosity, observation, and transdisciplinary conversation about life on earth.
As human-induced environmental change threatens multispecies livability, Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet puts forward a bold proposal: entangled histories, situated narratives, and thick descriptions offer urgent “arts of living.” Included are essays by scholars in anthropology, ecology, science studies, art, literature, and bioinformatics who posit critical and creative tools for collaborative survival in a more-than-human Anthropocene. The essays are organized around two key figures that also serve as the publication’s two openings: Ghosts, or landscapes haunted by the violences of modernity; and Monsters, or interspecies and intraspecies sociality. Ghosts and Monsters are tentacular, windy, and arboreal arts that invite readers to encounter ants, lichen, rocks, electrons, flying foxes, salmon, chestnut trees, mud volcanoes, border zones, graves, radioactive waste—in short, the wonders and terrors of an unintended epoch."
[extract from advertising on cover from "Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet: Ghosts and Monsters of the Anthropocene" - note this is mostly an academic book]
The following is a very brief version of a peer-to-peer counseling method that two or more people can utilize, without any necessity of either parties being "trained counselors."
I am offering below the simple explanation and process of how humans are hurt (focusing on emotional hurts) and how they heal. Everyone deserves attention when they are experiencing pain of some kind. That is a way to prevent unnecessary suffering. We are a social species that requires attention from a caring other during our distress. With confident support, all of us will destress, and more or less heal and recover our becautiful inner nature/self.
This short step-by-step process has an underpinning detailed theory which you can access in another blog I've written (see LPC) and an intro video I've made for how to 'balance' the peer counseling session so it is focused on the 'good' and the 'hurting' and not only focused on the hurting. There are many ways to destress from daily life, and how to heal and recovery our zestful and flexible inner nature/self.
Have you ever wondered why there is so much fear in people, perhaps in yourself, and in society overall? Fear that is toxic and damaging to our well-being and functioning as a society is due to excess hurting and over-reliance on "coping" as if this coping is better (more efficient) than healing. I am interested in us all moving from a fearful existence and life-styles of coping to to a fearlessness way of being that is truly liberating for all. I teach this peer-to-peer method (LPC) because we've grown to be way too afraid of the healing process itself. We've been taught to rely on professionals for healing (e.g., therapies). Sure professionals may be needed in some cases, but our first line of defense to prevent excess distress is to do our own work on hurts and help them heal, the sooner the better.
MAKING A HEALING CHOICE (At no cost)...
Most of us never learned in a coping culture how to heal our emotional wounds. Most of us are operating on attention deficit because we never received adequate quality of attention when we were emotionally distressed in our lives. "Hurting" is defined by this shortage of attention when we needed it. This shortage is more profoundly damaging to our well-being than the original injury we experienced as painful or traumatic. ATTENTION is key to everything good!
We never learned about hurting much...and therefore, we never likely learned that we have at least 10 natural healers:
1. laughing 2. crying 3. talking spontaneously 4. shaking and trembling 5. yawning and stretching 6. righteous indignation (anger) 7. spontaneous creatiion-making 8. sweating 9. dreaming/trance 10. deep breathing
In a coping culture we have learned for the most part to negatively judge all of the above natural healers. This is the first step we have to reverse. These are all positive functions and are "natural" to us but our culture tends to tell us otherwise. Being patient in accepting these natural healers again, in yourself and in others... is the first step to recovering who we really are deep inside--and, is the way to leading a more joyful existence.
"Healing" in this peer-to-peer counseling involves getting "attention" on what is bothering us but not getting advice! What this model is about is freeing oneself using the natural healers (one or more at any point in a "session") and letting them bring us back into a more balanced self-regulation where we will be able to then think better to solve our own problems. The peer helping us is there to listen deeply without judgement and trust and encourage the natural healers as first priority. "Let people heal" and be confident in them that they can do so, including yourself.
When you and/or someone you care about are hurting, and you see their distress is getting the better of them, or of you. You can potentially partner up and offer each other positive attention (sometimes called "unconditional attention"). In this peer-to-peer way of supporting each other, you both need to take responsibility to follow a few guidelines for a "session" (i.e., of destressing, healing, and recovery).
GETTING A "SESSION" (Beginning to build a healing relationship, and a healing culture)...
A "session" here is defined as a conscious choice for you and another to willinging do "peer counseling" which involves taking say 15 min.'s each to get positive attention from another person for the purpose of destressing, healing and recovering your inherent nature as a curious, loving, playful, and zestful intelligent and empowered person. Excess stresses and hurts if not manage well become barriers to your functioning inherent nature and well-being--and, thus distress will inhibit you being able to treat others and yourself well. We all have stress and hurts in life and typically in a coping culture we do not deal with this stress and hurting very well. We often suppress it. In peer-to-peer counseling you will reverse that habit of suppressing and "forgetting" pattern and move towards healing and recovery.
A "session" in this model of peer-to-peer counseling is a unique opportunity to care about another person without getting "attached" and "submerged" in all their distress feelings and thoughts. You take turns. Use a timer (start with 15 min. each). You (as counselor) don't interrupt the person sharing when it is their turn to get attention. You will get your turn right after them. Timing the session, with equal turns, really helps to prevent over-dependency on another person for emotional care. Too much giving care to another creates a path to eventual "burnout" for the caregiver.
DESTRESSING
This is the most basic means of releasing emotional and physical tension that builds up as inner and outer conflict, with feelings of hurt, anger, sadness, grief, depression etc. Humans are designed by nature to have good stress to function well and creatively in the world--it is part of all problem-solving and growth itself. However, if you have stressors over and over that become accumulating that can lead to chronic distress and post-traumatic effects, where you are not recovering back to a healthy stress level so you can function well.
The most simple "session" then for destressing is merely to take time in a session to process tensions, using any or all of the natural healers. What you are aiming for is to be more flexible in your body and thinking after the session---if not, take another session or book another session soon. Sometimes it will take several sessions to find a more peaceful and joyful 'norm' for yourself. There is no magical pill here that will make everything better all of a sudden. It takes discipline and practice to get well.
HEALING
This is more complex than merely destressing. It requires in a session that you as the client getting attention to put yourself in-charge and ask for exactly what you want (though, note: asking for advice from your counselor is not advised). You are to honestly face into and "feel" and use the natural healers to express and destress and keep going into what it is you feel hurt by--even if you have to guess what it is. You can 'bitch and complain' get angry and yet always notice that your aim is to recover your beautiful, natural nature/self. Healing requires the discharge of emotional and conflictual energy (i.e.., destressing) but also to then find clarity and rational thoughts that make sense for you in what is happening to you.
Healing involves dealing with the current hurts distressing you as well as looking at connections of how what you are feeling now may be related (in a post-traumatic way) to past unhealed painful memories and events that you experienced--or you even watched because other people were getting hurt. Healing fully is complex and requires this reconnecting of present with past--and, then rationally and intelligently planning out how you want to see your future and make your future the best it can be because you deserve it. Note, even thinking "good thoughts" about yourself at times will bring up pain, fear, shame, guilt and distress in general. You and your peer-counselor can work through this by you getting unconditional attention on it--and, at some point the counselor may offer non-judgmental observations from your session to bring more clarity to you (again, observations without advice-giving).
RECOVERY (Patience)
This is the short-term and long-term process of you taking charge to become the person you really want to be without all the negative thoughts and painful memories and habits that are so critical of yourself. The main thing in recovery is to journal on your healing and destressing sessions. To journal and keep notes on what you are doing well today, and when something doesn't go to well, ask yourself questions about how you could have maybe handled things differently with a better outcome. You have to be patient with yourself and say, "I'm still in recovery" and so are the people in a "session" that I may be assisting. We all have been brought up in a coping culture not a healing culture and so we have to recover a lot of our natural healing capacities and thinking rational capacities.
I always believe when you are in recovery it is best to not try to "change the world" or "change another person"--but focus on changing yourself for the better... and, that's a good place to bring more joy and intelligence to society--it will rub off.
Cautionary
When you first try this getting unconditional attention from a peer (who is informed in this model and guidelines)--there is the problem of finding it all very uncomfortable, and even the timing of the session--it seems to formal and not natural. This is a common complaint. My experience shows, the guidelines are very important to maintain vigilantly to make peer-to-peer counseling work best. Most of us have learned not to receive good quality attention--so, it will feel perhaps a little weird at first.
After the end of a "session" (say 15 min.) make sure you as client being listened to are coming "up and out" of the distress patterning and negative emotions and thoughts that may have come up in your session. Bring yourself to look around the room, and see the "benign" and "good" things in life right now in the moment--even though all is not perfect by any means. This is important also for the counselor to make sure the client is "up and out" and has some free and flexible attention for well-being and functioning in the world. Although, it is legitimate that a client also may want to rest after a session, have a nap, etc. It is important to give yourself some "space" from the day-to-day grind of responsibilities... because you want to let the healing effects of a session percolate and integrate a bit too. Again, you can always "book" another session with your peer-counselor and that helps for you to know that there is still good attention there for you.
Ultimately, all of the above guidelines and information are quite incomplete... so, seek further reading and study on this peer-to-peer method when you can make time for it.
If you wish to email me with questions on this material and method: r.michaelfisher52 [at] gmail.com
I just created a first in a series of 3 videos "Understanding Jordan Peterson 1: Social Implications"
I just created a second in a series of 3 videos "Understanding Jordan Peterson 2: Conflict Implications"
I just created a third in a series of 3 videos "Understanding Jordan Peterson 3: Fear Implications"
Ken Wilber (critical and popular voice for a new "integralism" needed in postmodern times (?)
THEME: How is the 'backlash' against postmodernism philosophy justified, how is it a good thing... and what is happening in the polarizing debates between the "progressives" so-called and the "conservatives"--a big battle everywhere in the world... this, one that Jordan Peterson is 'hitting on the nerve' is particularly important!
I, like many, are watching the incredible popularity of the digital 'guru' of media on the internet (youtube world and beyond)-- professor Peterson ... and, to make sense of his arguments, his style of delivery and his own ideological commitments and rigidity (his fears)-- I think a really good critique can be made by looking at Integral Philosophy (via Ken Wilber's work, whom I use a lot in my work on fear and fearlessness)-- see the interview (as an e.g., of an integral lens applied on Peterson's philosophy and the movement he is spawning rapidly)- this interview commentary by Jeff Salzman, a student of Wilber's for many years, brings many good points to light...
I plan to do a video (on my Youtube channel) soon exploring how a fearlessness context (lens) could be brought into a critique of Jordan and his followers in general... stay tuned.
Let’s open our sealed-off lives to semi-permeable architecture
This conference will take place in Bruges, Belgium in April 2019, close to where I live. I'm considering to attend it.
Topics for discussion include, but are not restricted to:
The politics and economics of fear: the far right/loony left; neoliberalism; corruption; espionage; Brexit; financial crisis; austerity
Fear and violence: terrorism; serial killers; murder; assault; GBH; war; civil war, social unrest; protest; WMD; nuclear proliferation; assault; dirty bombs; biological weapons; school shooters; gun control
Fear, society and culture: chavs/hillbillies/hoodies/punks/goths; immigrants/asylum seekers; cults; satanic ritual; permissive vs. authoritarian society; institutional racism/sexism/ableism/religious hatred; power; religion; history
Fear, commerce and control: big business; fat cats; teflon banks and banking systems; Anonymous; marketing; cartels; monopolies; the Illuminati
Fear and the body: contagion; vaccines; sexuality; mental illness; trauma; body modifications
Fear and the environment: climate change/global warming/extreme weather events; fracking; pollution; sustainability; food crises; water accessibility
Fight or flight: panic; attack; inaction; safe spaces/no platform/trigger warnings; anxiety
Fear and Sex: rape; sexual assault; sexual harassment; domestic and partner violence; paedophiles; sexual hate crime
Fear and gender: LBGTQI+; menstruation; women’s rights; female sexuality; (toxic) masculinity; #metoo/#notallmen; Incels/MRA/feminazis
Fear and the family: same sex parents; single parents; broken homes; child safety; loss of control; feral kids; anti-vaccine movement
Crime vs fear of crime: home invasions; ID theft; human trafficking; child sexual exploitation; rape; modern slavery
Fear and modernity: technology; change; the rise of the robots; internet/dark web; Millennium Bug; cyber crime; survivalism/preppers/stockpiling; surveillance; privacy
Fear as entertainment: horror films; literature; media; social media; the ‘Lexicon of Doom’; competitive scaremongering.
By Budheswar Bordoloi
In recognition of his exemplary and outstanding contribution in literature and culture,
he was honoured with many prestigious awards in India and abroad.
On the bank of the Kapali river, the greater area of Tumpreng in West Karbi Anglong, an isolated village, Mugasong is distinct amidst the marshy landscape of the area. In this tiny village, on 30th June 1969, a poor and humble farmer family, comprising Jay Bahadur Kafle and Pabitra Maya Devi, was blessed with a boy. Rana Kafle resembled “war” in Nepali.
Since his childhood Rana Kafle was regarded as a mediocre, simple, kind hearted and adventurous in nature. Starting with his primary education at a tender age from Mugasong L.P School, then Tumpreng H.S and Bhellapara High School, Kafle went on to pass his matriculation from Bhellapara High School and his college from Hojai College. Kafle went on to bag certificates, diplomas and degrees in various vocational courses too.
In course of time, Kafle grew up to be a man of influence in many ways in his area and in the state. A fine-looking man, as he was, Kafle emerged as a multifaceted personality, a resourceful philosopher, social worker, educationist, literature and cultural activist. His noted achievement was in promoting the “Indigenous Cultures of Assam” as a cinematographer, when his achievement was highlighted in one hundred “Indigenous Cultural Programmes” in the NE region through Doordarshan. He also achieved a progressive and extraordinary career in Radio and TV Channel through his “Exclusive Interviews” in India and abroad which are regarded as milestones in promoting culture, literature and fearism. During his school and college days, Kafle was actively involved in political activities, extending support and voicing concerns as student activist. He was an active designated member of AGSU, BGP, Assam Sahitya Sabha, Visha Nepali Sahitya Maha Sangam and so on. For Kafle, there was always handful of activities to do and indulge in. In recognition of his exemplary and outstanding contribution in literature and culture, he was honoured with many prestigious awards in India and abroad. These include:- Tilmati Bhaibad Puruskar 2014, Dharan, Nepal;,Keshar Dev Giniya Devi Bajaj Smriti Sanman 2015, Shillong, Meghalaya; Raghuvir Sharma Smriti Kadambari Sanman 2015, Jabalpur, MP; Bibhusan Shree Sanman 2015, Badayan, U.P, Kabya Kabid Rashtria Sanman 2016, Sonitpur, Haryana; Gobin Singh Smriti Sanman 2016, Muradabad U.P, Maharaj Jain Smriti Sanman 2016, Shillong, Meghalaya, Sahitya Ratna Manab Upadhi and Rameswari Devi Shiva Kumar Shastri Smriti Sanman 2016, Shrinath Dham, Rajasthan, Bhasa Bhusan Sanman 2016, Muradabad, U.P.; Sahitya Ratna Sanman 2017, Tezpur, Assam; Rashtriya Gaurab Sanman 2017, Chitaugarh, Akola, Rajasthan; Kanti Dhara Sahitya Ratna 2017, Meroth, UP; Sahitya Pratibha Sanman 2018, Muradabad, U.P.; Jyoti Shrastha Sanman, Kathmandu, Nepal.Another notable turning point in his life of activism was the coincident telephonic
conversation with Desh Subba, the founder and promoter of latest Philosophical Theory “Fearism”
Another notable turning point in his life of activism was the coincident telephonic conversation with Desh Subba, the founder and promoter of latest Philosophical Theory “Fearism”. From 2012 onwards he has been in constant touch with Desh Subba and has been involved in propagating this ideology in many parts of India and abroad. At the initial stage fearism was just a subject matter of “Research” for the common people. But it was Rana Kafle who propagated Fearism in its truest sense. In 2013 Rana Kalfe proposed to hold a Mega International Meet on Inter Cultural Relation and Fearism Programme at Dharan in Nepal which was organized by Fearism Study Center. In the meet 53 established writers including fifteen Sahitya Academy Winners from India participated and held interactions between the two countries. As a matter of fact the theory of Fearism evolved as an integral subject matter to discuss in the world arena. Meanwhile, the Sikkim University had already consented to include Fearism as an additional subject in the college syllabus. But then owing to unpublished scripts of the thoughts propagated by Desh Subba, no publication could be made available in the market. That very year in 2013 Rana Kafle resumed his unprecedented journey in the north eastern states, other parts of India and neighbouring countries including Bhutan, Myammar and Nepal to promote Fearism among the common people. He was a pioneer who upgraded an interaction programme “Face to Face” Basibialo (meaning ‘to interact at leisure’ in Nepali) and brought into limelight about Fearism as a universal subject as highly essential for the benefit of humankind. He also highlighted statistics and information directly to Desh Subba. As a matter of fact, he took initiatives to publish “Bhaibad” as a Nepali script through Sangrilla Prakashan, Kathmandu, Nepal. Later on, the same book was published in English, translated by Rajendra Subba and Bhabindra Kumar Rai under the publication house of xlibres.com by American Publisher to distribute in the world market.
Achievement of fearism after 2014
After the first publication of this book (Fearism) in 2014, Rana Kafle was conferred with the prestigious “Tilmati Bhaibad Puruskar” award for his strenuous work to promote and propagate “Fearism” in the world literature. This earned him indomitable fame and led to a series of other recognition and awards from various literary organizations in India and abroad. Through his verses Kafle elaborated broadly about Fear in vivid and distinct notations. Relating to this subject matter, Rana Kafle had published two precious books in Nepali, viz, “Bhai Darshan Ko Majherima” and “Bitunga”. In the initial book he highlights about his own experiences regarding fear. On the other hand, “Bitunga” is also a collection of essays which are based on fearism as a subject matter. In this book he states and demonstrates the pen picture of De Destination of cultural assimilations in the broad sense. The author also published “Nani Ki Kahaniya” a collection of Folk Tales of various tribes in Hindi. Apart from these some of the books which he published are Maya Ko Bandha (Nepali novel), , Hemprek (Assamese novel) based on Karbi Anglong political scenario), Bisphot Bhai Puchi (Nepali Short Stories), Astitya (Keshra: A new theme of Nepali Poetic Diction), Kapali Bagarma Butoliko Sabda Saru (Nepali Poetry) among others.
https://www.thehillstimes.in/featured/ana-kafle-in-the-realm-of-literature-and-fearism/
Book Title: Philosophy of Fear: A Move to Overcoming Negative Fear
Author: Michael Bassey Eneyo
Published by: Xlibris
Fear is like a two edge sword; it has the capacity to
build and also has the ability to destroy.
-Michael Bassey Eneyo (P. 115)
Author/Philosopher and Theologian Michael Bassey Eneyo is a young Fearist Philosopher from Nigeria. He was born in Ekpri Ikot Eyo Edem in Akpabuyo L.G.A. of Cross River State, Nigeria. He is currently working with the Nigeria Customs Service. At present, Eneyo is assiduously working on his next book, "Philosophy of Unity" which he had identified fear as an impediment to inclusive unity in the fifth chapter of the book.
In his "Philosophy of Fear: A Move to Overcoming Negative Fear", Eneyo has coined many words like: Abstract Nature of Fear, Accident of Fear, Categories of Fear, Faculty of Fear, Fear Conflict, Fear Storage, Fear Territory, etc. The first task of any philosopher is to build a house in which his philosophical ideas can be theorized. A given philosophical method/concept used by a philosopher becomes a house for such a philosopher. To build a philosophical house therefore, a philosopher must employ many philosophical materials. These materials are new words. With new words, it is easy to build a philosophical house. Eneyo has materials of words and he is using it in building his "Philosophy of Fear".
The author came up with new arguments about the notion of fear. He is not completely in agreement with the presentation of other world famous Fearogists like: Subba, Fisher and Kalu. In one of his dictums, he says, "Fear is like a two edge sword..." This dictum signals the positive and the negative nature of fear of which the author seeks to promote. The world is characterized with the positive and the negative categories of fear, he reasoned. The fearing nature of the world is what he called; "Fear Territory". In this territory, Eneyo argues that there are many faculties of fear dominated by a given pattern of fear in both positive and negative influences. He is of the opinion that negative fear can be overcome by love. Love is stronger than fear, he interprets. According to him, during "Fear Conflict," courage plays the mediator role.
"It can be argued that fear territory is like a deep ocean that accommodates
a vast amount of varieties of fish such that, no matter the number
of fishermen that fish from it, they can never finish the fish in it."
He has beautifully defined fear territory with an explicit example using fish and ocean to elucidate his analysis when he said: "It can be argued that fear territory is like a deep ocean that accommodates a vast amount of varieties of fish such that, no matter the number of fishermen that fish from it, they can never finish the fish in it."
Fear territory is like an ocean and the Fearologists are the fishermen. No matter how many fishermen that come to fish in the ocean, the fish will never finish. Similarly, many philosophers\ authors\ political leaders\spiritual leaders, etc, are all fishing in this ocean of fear, but fear still remains. Fear territory is also like the ocean of the Greek God Dionysus. According to the ancient myth, Socrates always defeats Dionysus in debate. Dionysus had been looking for a good chance to make a fool of Socrates. One day when Socrates was passing by the bank of ocean. He saw a man sitting near the ocean and pouring out handful of water. He had been casting water on the ground. He was doing this throughout the whole day. When Socrates saw him, he wondered and asked him, "what are you doing?' The Strange man replied, "I want to dry this ocean." Socrates laughed and mocked him, "You are one of the greatest fools in the world." Socrates didn’t know this stranger because he disguised himself as a fisherman. It was indeed a diamond opportunity for him to make fool of Socrates. He said, "You are trying to catch the soul. Soul is unlimited. In comparison to the soul he said; ocean is limited, why can’t I dry it?" When he listened to his logic, it shocked Socrates because he was right. Fear is unlimited like the soul of Socrates. This is rightly mentioned by the author in this book when he said “there is fear everywhere”.
- Michael discusses many sub titles like: comparing Subba's Fearism with Fisher's concept of Fearlessness, Kumar and Susmita on the Youth & Fear, Fisher and his concept of Fear, Fisher on Love, Kalu's Critique on Desh Subba's Treatment of Fear, Subba's Notion of Fear, Fisher's Fearlessness Movement, Subba's Philosophy of Fearism and many other sub titles which have helped in giving in-depth knowledge of his position on fear.
The author sometimes agrees with other fearologists and some other times he disagrees. Amidst these arguments, he clearly made his logic of "Philosophy of Fear" so appealing. His criticism is the first bookish criticism in the world on fearism/fearology. Nobody had done an in-depth bookish criticism on fear study as Eneyo has done in his book. I am personally agreed with his logic and admire his courage.
"…If we fear God we would not be afraid of the world and if we are afraid of the world, we can never fear God" (p.16). Subba explains the above ideation of Eneyo as different levels of fear. Sometimes we are afraid of a small thing and at times the fear becomes dominated by bigger and the biggest kinds of fear. Often times we are afraid of blood pressure until more chronic disease which is more fearful than blood pressure appears. When blood cancer is diagnosed, blood pressure automatically becomes less fearful. Subba explained this in the case of Hemlock poison of Socrates. Socrates was not afraid to die, but he was rather afraid to stain his soul with dirt of immorality. This is exactly what Eneyo has critically analyzed here.
Of all the Fearologists of the world, none had ever made declaration on fearism that captures the foundation for fearism studies of which all fearologists should uphold. Eneyo became the first fearologist to have made this declaration without any hesitation and delay; what he called, “Fearism Declaration 2018”. This declaration is justified, holding to the fact that 2018 is the year many Fearologists of the world have written differently on fear related topics, yet, they all hold onto the dictum that “fear is fundamental to all mankind.” It is also in 2018 that the author himself was actively involved in the grant mission of Fearism Movement as an emerging philosophy that seeks the liberation of human beings from negative fear and how positive fear can be used to the advantage of human beings in the 21st century and beyond.
In this book the author opined: "We do not agree with Subba that knowledge is the originating source of fear; this does not also deny the fact that knowledge of the potential danger of a thing generates fear" (P. 55). So far, in the aspect of sources of fear, it seems to me that Eneyo didn’t understand clearly my view on the sources of fear. In my book, Philosophy of Fearism I have written that source of fear is not consciousness, but knowledge. And the source of that knowledge is from the caricature of meaning. It also means that source of fear is the meaning we give about what we know, and not knowledge itself. I had differentiated between knowledge and meaning in my treatise. Normally, knowledge and meaning look like synonyms but they vary.
He had added a lot of Efik's myths to decorate his philosophy. I think these myths have honestly performed their duty. The myths of Spittle, Fattening Room, Clay Pot, and Clean Environment are admirable examples. In these myths, the central message is that fear is conductor, director and controller of life, society and nation. This message is tinged with the “Fearism Declaration 2018” which says that fear is fundamental to all mankind. Using the myth of clean environment, the governor Mr. Donald Etim Duke had implemented many developmental projects that attract tourists all over the world to Calabar as the result of the cleanliness of the city of Calabar. The fear of Abassi [God] and Atai [God’s wife] also played significant role in maintaining mutual coexistence among the Efik people of Nigeria. Most countries and peoples of the world also have their own myths or beliefs that guide them to achieve their goals. The fear and respect for Abassi [God] helps them to keep peace, developed and be happy. In another words, the fear of God in a great extent plays the role of the law, court and government in the Efik society.
The book has indeed brought up some of the aspects which were not covered by other Fearologists. The emergence of this book is like a river that flows into the ocean. I highly recommend it for your reading and I see it as a paradigm for fear management. It is hoped that one day, the book will be used in fear related courses in universities.
The book is chaptered into nine with a total of 164 pages. It is available in major online platforms for your purchase. It goes for: price kindle $4.99 and paperback $20.69 respectively.
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The above is an excerpt from a popular article online which really raises interesting questions for a philosophy of fearism, a philosophy of fear, and philosophy of fearlessness?
The field of "epigenetics" is a field of knowledge construction, largely out of the biogenetics-psychology domains, with its own biases in how it understands fear and how it understands trauma etc.
For my latest FearTalk2 video with Luke Barnesmoore, an up and coming young philosopher (doctoral candidate) from the Geography department of The University of British Columbia:
Description of what is on this video:
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 (https://ubc.academia.edu/Barnesmoore) 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 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED... Also a discussion of A-D/ness can be found in Fisher's video "Do's and Don'ts of Fearology" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcNte... 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.
Also check out my 2nd part on FearTalk 3 video with Luke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI3Gjn10t38
(Socrates seems to have spent most of his time in the agora, or marketplace, discussing all sorts of things.)
An interview conducted by a Nepalese journalist, Raj Sargam of the Nepal Time Magazine with Desh Subba, the founder of Fearism Movement.
Date: 1st September 2018,
Trans. by Desh Subba
Edited by Michael Bassey Eneyo
Socrates ran Agora school [teaching in the market places].
Plato ran academy, while Aristotle ran Lyceum.
Philosophers from France and Germany ran schools in tea and coffee houses.
Desh Subba is a poet, novelist and a philosopher from Nepal. He has been working on the development of "Philosophy of Fearism" for some years now. "The Tribesmen's Journey to Fearlessness" is his first Fearism-based novel. He is on the course of introducing Fearism [philosophy] through poem, drama and epic. In the interview published in Nepal Time Magazine, Raj Sargam began the interview by asking Desh Subba how Fearism as a school of thought can handle the problem of fear which seems to be fundamental to every life. Below is the interview.
Raj: I know it is true that everybody has one kind of fear or the other. I equally believe that the young generations are suffering from depression. How does Fearism handle such problems?
Desh: Fear is natural to human beings. No matter our level of exposure, we cannot completely eliminate fear. Fearism as a movement is focusing on how human beings can understand fear more insightfully, how fear can be controlled, managed and applied for the good of human beings. We have read classical philosophies regarding states, citizens, capitalism, struggles, happiness and pleasure. If we should get to the root of all these philosophies, we will see that none of them has really emphasised on the importance of fear. We can take example from the "Ring of Gyges" mentioned in the Republic of Plato. This mythical and magical ring saves people from fear of being caught and punished when they do something wrong. But even at that, nobody actually acknowledged the importance or the role fear in the affairs of human beings.
The entire world and its life can be looked at with the eyes of fear [Fearism lens]. It is not only the new generations that are suffering from fear; our ancestors were also suffering from it. Invention of stone weapons, dwelling in the cage and the worship of nature were parts of the witnesses to the influence of fear in the ancient period. We are in continuation of the same fearful influence. But today, it is manifesting in the mask of modernism.
I have said elsewhere that each era is an era of extreme fear, because each era carries its optimum level of knowledge, rationality and invention which are motivated by fear. The difference between the past and the present level of fear is shown in different ways through which human beings have adopted in the attempts to better their lives. The ancient period was not such a competitive and a corporate society as it is today. In our present generation, we have witnessed so many competitions: among students, in the areas of sports, employment, acquisition of wealth, among peers, family members, colleagues in the office, market men/women, etc. There’re so much depressions today. Depression begins anytime we fail to achieve any of our expectations. When this is the case, all the experiences during these periods increase our fears.
But then, depression is not limited to the scope of depression, it expands beyond. It creates more hazardous situations. I know people often mention sources of hazardous situations, but nobody seems to have mentioned fear as part of it. This may have been predicated on the fact that we didn’t have theory that can explain the workings of fear. After the development of Fearism Movement, Fearism traditions began to spring up. One of the Fearism dictums says: "Don't keep fear of competition an irrelevant prestige." Avoidance of unnecessary competition, desire and interest keep us safe from depression and mental sickness. So Fearism provide the methods that can help human beings handle the challenges of fear and depression.
Raj: You are trying to establish Fearism with the help of Fearism Study Centre. What will be the role of Fearism activities in Nepalese’s literature?
Desh: In any serious philosophical movement, there is always a tradition of schooling. Socrates ran Agora school [teaching in the market places]. Plato ran academy, while Aristotle ran Lyceum. Philosophers from France and Germany ran schools in tea and coffee houses.
When a person becomes famous in his philosophy, such philosophy will certainly convert into school. It is my belief that to establish Fearism, we need a school [i.e. we need fear education] and Fearism Study Centre is our school.
Fearism Study Centre is not only domiciling in Nepal, it will soon kick start in Nigeria. It is going to be run by Nigerian philosopher Osinakachi Akuma Kalu and his friends Michael Eneyo, Augustus Chukwu and others who have shown commitment in Fearism Movement. It is still in its starting phase, it would be extended to other countries as time goes on. At present, R. Michael Fisher has founded The Fearology Institute in Canada which is an integral part of Fearism.
Nepalese’s literature is traditionally divided into group(ism) and not into the formal method of schooling. The formal pattern of schooling gives more knowledge. My ambition has been to take Fearism beyond the Nepalese’s traditional literary circle and that ambition is already yielding positive result as you can see.
Raj: In following Fearism as your new discovered paradigm, are you not missing poem and novel writings?
Desh: yes! At the surface, I missed them, but in a more critical look, I am still doing them under Fearism [though in a subtle manner]. Literature has multiple genres, but Philosophy is above all literary genres. Story, poem, essay and epic cannot sustain for a long time if they are not rooted in a given philosophy. Writing or any form of theory can only be sustained if it is rooted in a strong philosophy. I have potentialities of many writing genres. But in the face of philosophy, other genres are dimmed. If one man has many genres, he will likely be addressed by the one he is noted to doing better and not by all the genres. Jean Paul Sartre had many writings, but people addressed him as a Philosopher.
Raj: You used to say Fearism is isolated philosophy. How do you mean and to what extent is the influence of Fearism apart from in Nepal?
Desh: Actually, I don't have deeper understanding of this saying of Nepalese believers: "Dark underneath the lamp." Fearism to me is isolated philosophy in Nepal because we do not really have many philosophers here working to develop contemporary philosophies. Fearism Movement goes beyond our home philosophy which is embedded in our culture. We often talked about culture at home, but our literature and philosophy are not separated from our culture. This makes it somewhat difficult to say that we have a philosophy of our own. It is not right to expect a highly philosophical culture in those countries where the culture of doing philosophy is not developed.
Professors are in competition to be the first follower of western philosophy.
They dream to be the first followers and never dreaming to be leaders of new ideas or philosophy.
Here in Nepal, we have less leading characters; we only have people with the mentality of wanting to be good followers. Professors are in competition to be the first follower of western philosophy. They dream to be the first followers and never dreaming to be leaders of new ideas or philosophy. This is the reason I said Fearism is in far distance among professors and students of Nepal.
Edward Said had opined: "Westerns have a capacity to define eastern." We imbibe the culture of followership; we follow the culture of the west. When they say, “You are stupid and arrogance” we nod our heads and answer 'yes'. This is a kind of slave mentality. Easterners have the habit of being happy in Western definitions to things. It is exclusively implemented in the philosophical minds of most Nepalese. This tendency discourages and disqualifies us from aspiring for leadership position in the global community. Today, Fearism is gradually becoming popular in some states of India and in Nigeria. These countries are trying to develop a culture of original definitions to life. This is the reason we can see many Nigerian Philosophers coming up with original ideas to the study of fear.
Raj: There is increase of the numbers of murder, violence and rape in the society now. Can Philosophy of Fearism give explanation to this or not?
Desh: Violence, murder and war are caused by fear. Very rare may be resulted from other reasons, but fear is mostly the reason. After the murder comes more fear. The one that kills become afraid of the likely consequence of his action. Sometimes the impact of it extends like Pyramid and sometimes like rectangle. If somebody has fear of being killed by someone, and he decided to kill the person in order to eliminate his fear and become fearless. After killing the supposed source of fear [the person], he will discover that killing is never elimination of fear, rather, it ushered us into another domain of fear-the fear of the punishment for killing by the family and the society as stipulated by law.
There are many of such people in the society. Thug, corruptor, liar, killer, raper, murderer and dishonest always feel the presence of surveillance cameras everywhere they go even when there is no such thing. The impact of fear depends on the gravity of the offence. Those who commit grievous sin always forget taste of food and sleep. They have the illusion of somebody following or talking about them. A particular fear can expand and become as big as the black sky.
In Nepal and India, the numbers of murder and violence cases are increasing by the day. Less fear of law is the reason of it. In most cases, either the leaders are involved in the breaking of the law or they provide protection for those who break the law. Even the states seem not to adhere to the dictum of the law; this definitely increases murder, rape and violence cases in the land.
This state of lawlessness depicts Thomas Hobbes’ State of Nature; where life was brutal, nasty and short. This is a kind of "Modern Wild Kingdom" where law is no longer regarded as a guide. This is the main problem I have seen about South Asia and Africa in recent times. When a given country or an individual begins to fear and have respect for law that is when a state can be said to be a lawful state. Then violence, murder and rape are likely to be swiped from such a state.
International Journal of Fear Studies
Interdisciplinary and Transdisciplinary Approaches
Call for Papers and Creative Submissions:
Dr. R. Michael Fisher, Ph.D., founder/editor of IJFS, has set the wheels in motion for a first edition of an on-line journal that promotes academic scholarship, professional explorations and popular educational and creative works for a variety of serious readers interested in fresh thinking and ideas about the nature and role of fear in societies. Articles and creative submissions may include large technical and philosophical works, research studies and results, essays, opinions, poetry and other art, etc.
There is also going to be space to share the kinds of work (theoretical or practical, complete or incomplete) you are doing on fear that deserves international recognition. The primary criteria is that works have an interdisciplinary and/or transdisciplinary approach, while at the same time are progressive and open-minded works that instigate insight, healing, liberation, creative thinking, critique, and synthesis. We simply require a new journal format like IJFS because there is no other place to focus on fear as a subject matter in any journal to date.
All authors retain their own copyright of their works published in IJFS. The journal will consider re-published submissions as long as copyright approval has been made.
Submissions Due January 20, 2019 for the first volume edition of IFJS. Feel free to send the editor (r.michaelfisher52@gmail.com) a proposal of what you would like to submit ahead of time if you want feedback first. Otherwise, send your completed work and it will go out for peer-review and final editing by Dr. Fisher. Citations of references is essential in papers and should follow a standard style format (e.g., Chicago, APA, Harvard, etc.) in most cases, but also feel free to be creative in style format as well but provide a rationale for any such deviations from standard formats. There is no word-length requirements of submissions. If all goes well the first journal will be published in Spring 2019. There’ll likely be two issues/year.
If you would like to be on the Editorial Board (and/or be a Reviewer for IFJS) make your interest known to Dr. Fisher as soon as possible. We look forward to your participation to make this journal a success. The first edition will be available in an open-access pdf format and housed on the Fearlessness Movement ning (hosted by R. M. Fisher) and eventually, IFJS will be archived in a university library digital repository with open-access and full linking to academic search engines.
If you would like to gift a donation to IFJS, please contact R. M. Fisher. Your support is greatly appreciated.
This Figure is my latest mapping of my own evolution of thought, philosophizing and theorizing about Love and Fear ... and, right to my latest version (Trialectic-Upgrade) which has emerged from my reading of Moreno's (1971/77) book (see my blog below). This has been 30 years of thinking critically about how to understand the "Human Condition" (and, concomitantly, how to understand "Human Nature" and "Human Potential"). I am convinced that without a good understanding of these relationships, there will be ineffective paradigms created for "managing" humankind and our future--especially, when we take into account the nature and role of Fear. Philosophy of Fearism (a la Subba) and Philosophy of Fearlessness (a la Fisher) and Philosophy of Fear (a la Eneyo etc.) ought to be very engaged with these four paradigms and/or adding more--around this deep search for understanding the primary forces of human meta-motivation.
Of course, I am only giving you the barest skeletal diagrams here, as a small book could be written on describing the ontological details, rationale and potential applications for each of these models and why they have evolved in my own thinking---and, I would argue they are each one an improvement upon the prior paradigm--a kind of evolutionary maturity is shown. For a general understanding of my own intellectual critique and evolution of the first 3 paradigms go to Fisher 2017 Radical Love.pdf" as it is an article published in the International Journal of Critical Pedagogy.
"Philosophy of Fearism" is a unique Philosophy.
Prepared by Nunuta Rai
Translated by Desh Subba
Edited by Michael Bassey Eneyo
Published Saturday 2 September, 2018 Naya Patrika, Daily, Kathmandu, Nepal
For 19 years now, Desh Subba of Dharan, Nepal has made Hong Kong a workmanship of a new philosophy. There, he has borne a new vision – 'Fearism'. Subba had revealed that within four years, his book on Philosophy has won 10 International Awards. He had conceived the new idea of Philosophy of Fearism about two decades ago. But his fearism ideas came to the public domain just about four years back. Bhayabad which is Nepal’s name for “Philosophy of Fearism” was translated into English with the above name as its title, and published in 2014. The publication offers the book a wider readership, thus, making it even more popular in the global society. Since then, Fearism as a philosophical movement has attracted many followership from different parts of the world and the movement is growing rapidly. Amongst the members of the movement are: the Indian author B. Maria Kumar, R. Michael Fisher and Desh Subba who had jointly wrote a book entitled: "Fear, Law and Criminology critical issues in applying the Philosophy of Fearism", Dr. R. Michael Fisher and Desh Subba had equally coauthored a book titled: "Philosophy of Fearism- East-West Dialogue". These books are all published by the American Publisher, Xlibris.
Right now, there are many books published on the basis of Fearism. According to Subba, based on the Philosophy of Fearism, a Canadian author Michael Fisher has written many articles on fearism. Also, two Nigerian authors Osinakachi Akuma Kalu and Michael Bassey Eneyo have published books with the titles- "The First Stages of the Fearologist and "Philosophy of Fear: A Move to Overcoming Negative Fear" respectively. Similarly, Indian authors, B. Maria Kumar and B. S. Susmita have recently coauthored the book "The Youth Don't Cry". The book has given high respect to Philosophy of Fearism. This article is necessitated by the conversation that took place between feature writer of Naya Patrika Daily Newspaper Nunuta Rai and Propounder of Philosophy of Fearism, Desh Subba.
State, Police, army, hospital, law, society, court, government, school, insurance, bank, etc, are established to minimize fear. Fear is behind all these.
The Beginning of Philosophy of Fearism
The beginning of "Philosophy of Fearism" can be said to be accidentally emerged. In 1999, I prepared a book entitled 'Ujad' (Desolate). A friend of mine Sharan Subba after reading the manuscript, he underlined the word Bhayabad with a red ink. I thought of it deeply for quite a long time about the word. “This can be different” I pondered. Then I began to reason that the word could be installed as a philosophy. From then, friends and I started discussing fearism, it was from the several discussions with friends that I came up with the name, Philosophy of Fearism. Fearism as a philosophical movement was first mentioned in a Tapu Magazine in 2005.
This magazine was published in Hong Kong. While Fearism Study centre was established in 2009 with many followers supporting it. Prof. Tanka Prasad Neupane is the first installed Chairman of the movement. Every year the Centre awards "Tilmati Fearism Award" to an author who writes about Fearism. So far, Rana Kafle of Assam, India and Rajendra Guragain have been awarded. This year, a Nigerian author Osinakachi Akuma Kalu has equally been awarded for his book titled "The First Stage of the Fearologist." This is a clear indication that Fearism Movement is growing.
What is Philosophy of Fearism?
Philosophy of Fearism is an emerging philosophy that deals basically with the problems of fear. Since the beginning of civilization we have had different kinds of fear that affect humanity in both positive and negative ways. Till today, fear is still taking the center place in our societies. Fear itself seems to me the most basic to every other philosophy. Actually, Life is conducted, directed and controlled by fear. Our invention, construction, etc, are as consequences of one form of fear or another. State, Police, army, hospital, law, society, court, government, school, insurance, bank all were established to minimize fear. Fear is behind all these. We have fear of death, fear of prestige, fear of disease, fear of property, fear of society, etc.
How is Fearism a philosophy?
The base of all philosophies is fear, and fear is a Life carrier word. It is fear that raises consciousness and life. Unlike Marxism, materialism and idealism which are just words that don’t give the meaning of life, fear defines life. Although the above words also have the suffix “ism” just like fearism. This suffix has also given them philosophical coronation, but even at that, they all stood at the base of Fearism because they do not give the meaning of life, Subba reasoned.
Philosohy of Fearism raises consciousness and life. Marxism, Materialism and Idealism are just words; they don't give the meaning of life. These “isms” stood at the base of Fearism.
Philosophy of Fearism teaches the solutions to the problems of life. Subba believes that excess of fear, less fear or absence of fear is a problem. For him, moderate fear solves problem. For example, a student who studies hard does so for fear of failing an examination. When he has more fear, he will not do well in the examination even when he had study hard. Supposing also that the said student does not have the fear of failing his/her exams, he/she wouldn’t study hard. If he/she has the fear of failing, he/she will certainly study hard and write the exams well, thus scoring high marks when the result is out. The motive of Fearism as a new philosophical movement is to prevent any accidents of fear and as such, make life better. Fearism teaches us how to live a comfortable life.
Philosophy of Fearism is not a literature ?
Fearism can be used in literature, music and art but it is not literature itself. Entry of Fearism in literature, music and art help man to get more understanding. We have been observing life through ideologies but ideologies make life more difficult. Just like how Marxism, Existentialism, Idealism, Deconstruction and other philosophies came into literature, music and art; similarly Fearism has also come into different aspects of life including literature. Fearism is a world lens to see life, literature, art, psychology, sociology and other fields of studies. It does not only look at challenges of human beings, it also looks at animals and birds and the entire world issues.
Obviously we cannot see sexual desire, anger, illusion, temptation, jealously, greed, hatred and faith in animals and birds. But fear can be seen in different ways from a far distance. When we talk of seeing fear, we mean experiencing fear and its symptoms. When pullets see the hawk in the sky, they run away with the screaming noise. Some living creatures escape for safety when they see lion and pantheon. Because the living creatures are already aware of the natural disaster like: earthquake and Tsunami, so they run for safety when such disaster occurs. When we seek for a way to save our life from various accidents, fear is always the reason.
We must have fear treatment centres?
To know fear, to be rescued from fear, to be protected from fear, to treat fear properly, we must have fear education institutes, colleges and universities. It is necessary to have fear treatment centres and doctors. The world is getting more dangerous, increase terrorist activities; people have become racists and regionalists. The image of classless society is not enough to overcome fear. And even if we have classless society, we cannot be fearless. To fight all these fear problems, we must have knowledge about fearism. Hence, we must visit treatment centre, because a good knowledge of fear can save us from suicide, murder, panic, war, rape, invasion and failure. Such knowledge made for a calm and a coordinative society.
Growing Followers ?
Nowadays followers of Fearism Movement are growing. In comparison, Africa has the highest number. The reason for these growing followers from Africa is because of fear of war, violence and starvation that is prevalent in the continent, with the growing civil war as the main reason. Africa, by my assessment, is "Fear danger zone". Fearism also has many followers in north east India as well because of the problems of racists and regionalists. Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Assam have these problems. Where there are many fearful situations, there is likely to be more followers.
Recognizing towards Philosophy ?
Philosophy of Fearism is a re-explanation of all other philosophies, ideal, life, death and all aspects of existence. The questions of; what is fear, from where does it come? What could be its effect? And how can it be cured, etc, cannot find detailed research, thesis and explanations anywhere except in fearism centre. There’s fear everywhere. When we depart from home we have fear and when we return, there’s fear also. We wake up from sleep with the fear of how the day would be, and we go to bed with the fear of what the night holds for us. Government, Bank, Hospital, School and Society were set up to protect us against fear and also to rescue human persons from fear. People embrace these institutions because they want to be saved. Taking all these into consideration, we will agree that Philosophy of Fearism has explanation for all questions about fear. It functional formula is life-consciousness-knowledge-fear-cognition/Fearism.
All creatures have consciousness. Because of consciousness man has knowledge and this knowledge creates fear. To get rid of fear, we find ourselves running everywhere. Fear made us form organizations and create countries. In the course of looking for safety, we kill others. This tradition is common in developing society. We are neither running according to Hierarchy of needs of Abraham Maslow nor running in the name of class struggle as Marx declared. Fear makes us run away from others, thus rendering us lonely. We were lonely during the ancient civilization, and today we are sitting in the middle of society but still lonely.
Before now, the Freudian psychoanalysis, used to put mental patients in dark room, tied them up with ropes and get them tortured. But today, worldwide these patients are easily classified. The sicknesses associated with mental problem have been identified and the corresponding treatments have been developed. But at present, fear patients are not treated, and if they do, they’re not properly treated just like mental patients of the 18th century. Treatment of fear patients hasn’t yielded good result yet.
Fear patients must be treated with fear vaccines in fearism method. They must be cured in a fear treatment centre, where there’re fear vaccines (theories) to treat them with. These vaccines or theories must be known and adopted by fear doctors (fearists/fearologists) and then administer to fear patients by the doctors based on their method(s) of prescription in their treatment centre. Thus, Philosophy of Fearism is that school where doctors of fear patients are trained. Courses like: thought of fear, sources of fear, kinds of fear, effects of fear, fear age, fear treatment and other fear related courses are taught. It is in need an emerging philosophy of the 21st century for the treatment of fear.
Book by Francisco Jose Moreno (1971/77)
I appreciate being notified of this book by Dr. Randy Auxier, philosopher at SIUC, as he informed me that he was reading Moreno and found the first two chapters to be all about fear at the base of the human condition and of reason itself. Moreno (1971/77), a political philosopher (Mexican-American?) wrote, "Fear is one of the fundamental motivating forces behind our actions. The history of [hu]mankind is to a very large extent the history of our attempts to deny, repress, or escape from fear" (p. 1). "The fear resulting from our ability to reason [i.e., awaken to uncertainty and our own vulnerability] affects us so profoundly that it permeates our whole existence. This fear, which we struggle to suppress...never [completely] abandons us..." (p. 6).
FEARISM: Roots (Precursors) of a Philosophy of Fear
Although Desh Subba points to several sources of theories and philosophies in his 2014 book [1] that somewhat point to the central importance of fear, Subba is not able to find any distinct "roots" that satisfy him that the "philosophy of fearism" (he coined) has a forerunner. This makes philosophy of fearism a unique creation for sure and that is worth celebrating. However, it also makes me question as to whether there are not indeed "roots" (forerunners) that already existed before 1999 and Subba's subsequent development of fearism. I am currently writing on this topic. It seems there are some authors, and Moreno (1971/77) is one of them, that may indeed be precursors to a philosophy of fearism. Because I just got this book in the mail today, and haven't read it, but only read reviews of it, I'll keep you all informed of my findings--but the two quotes above by Moreno are indeed compelling evidence that Moreno was "onto" a form of philosophy of fearism nearly a quarter century before Subba's fearism notion arose.
All fearists, of any scholarly pursuit, will want to look at this little book (129pp) from the 1970s, from an original thinker--not because he identifies fear as at the source of distorted thinking "but in locating the root of fear in reason itself" --that is what makes his philosophy of uncertainty (i.e., of fear) a unique and important and courageous contribution (quotes from Michael A. Weinstein, in the "Introduction"). Such a claim by Moreno is going to really challenge all the "rationalists" and believers in "reason" as the best way to manage fear. Moreno seems to be turning that common and dominating thesis upon its head.
As I read these brief comments and quotes, at this point, I am strongly sensing Moreno is a precursor philosopher (from the political field) who sees through, and sees beyond fear of fear itself--and moves forward to articulate a philosophy of the human condition where fear is central and it is this fear that is the glue that links Reason and Faith--it is fear that is in between Reason and Faith (the psychic and cultural (and intellectual) defenses of individuals and collectives that try to repress fear and its impacts; that try to deny fear is central but prefer to put reason and faith first and central).
End Note
1. Subba, D. (2014). Philosophy of fearism: Life is conducted, directed and controlled by the fear. Australia: Xlibris; see also Fisher, R. M. & Subba, D. (2016). Philosophy of fearism: A first East-West dialogue. Australia: Xlibris.
I recently found this image (as Halloween, or 'Day of the Dead' or Hallomas or Samhain) on the internet. The title was provocative and speaks to the concept of which this blog is all about: that is, the proposition (if not theory) that the basic core of the human condition is fear (or fear-based) (?)
The philosophy of fearlessness (Fisher) and philosophy of fearism (Subba) [1] is arguably a combination of supportive philosophies for the above claim. Others, like Eneyo who in part takes some aspects of the Fisher-Subba philosophies in his own "philosophy of fear" prefers to make the core of the human one of love, yet he agrees fear is also core but secondary [2]. The Fisher-Subba position is not opposed to Eneyo's claim but is more a nuanced branch of a philosophy of fear that situates understanding the human by focusing on fear over and above focusing on love [3].
My point of writing this very short blog is to say that there is still not an adequate (referenced) scholarly synthesis of important writing (philosophy and theory) on the proposition in the internet poster and/or in the authors' work mentioned above. There are fragments of support references for their claims but not yet the document that is needed to give scholarly credibility (at least, not as far as I am concerned).
I am of late beginning to see some critical thinkers in the early 1970s that I will be documenting their positions and arguments, theories, and works...coming from backgrounds in philosophy/anthropology/political science/theology... it is still too early for me to make my case for their support of the Fisher-Subba position re: fear is the core of the human condition and history itself is the unfolding of that human-fear relationship--as one of, if not the most powerful relationships on this planet (i.e., fearuality, fearological reality).
I'll keep you updated as this paper (booklet) I'm writing evolves.
Notes:
1. Fisher, R. M. (2010). The world's fearlessness teachings: A critical integral approach to fear management/education for the 21st century. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Subba, D. (2014). Philosophy of fearism: Life is conducted, directed and controlled by the fear. Australia: Xlibris. Another young budding philosopher of this synthesis with his own nuances is Osinakachi Akuma Kalu (with his two books on fear in the last two years; e.g., The First Stage of the Fearologist. Amazon CreateSpace).
2. Eneyo, M. (2018). The philosophy of fear: A move to overcoming negative fear. Australia: Xlibris.
3. For a brief intro. discussion of Fisher and Subba on fear and love, see Philosophy of fearism: A first East-West dialogue. Australia: Xlibris (2016), p. xxxi.
This radical minister is one who is part of the same religious-liberation movement as Malcolm X was (in the USA)... I do not necessarily support this minister and his religious group and their leader(s)... but he is an influential voice, and speaks some wisdom that all need to hear (same as did Malcolm X), especially, as he calls to Black people all over the world: for the 3 min. video talk