I believe we are thinking along similar lines. You said it much more eloquently than I could. Many years ago I read a book titled "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway." It seems to me it takes reflective thought to find your way through that process. And if you don't follow through with it (not enough reflective thought), the emotion will…
I believe we are thinking along similar lines. You said it much more eloquently than I could. Many years ago I read a book titled "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway." It seems to me it takes reflective thought to find your way through that process. And if you don't follow through with it (not enough reflective thought), the emotion will continue to dominate (too much emotion).
One of the preconditions for mass formation is widespread "free-floating anxiety". I agree that living in a system that is obviously failing is more than most people can cope with. In addition, with respect to covid, I wonder if part of the anxiety for many people isn't coming from the fact that they have not come to terms with their own death. As you say, life is risky. But day-to-day living has isolated us from many of life's essential realities.
Thanks for your reply and for the conversation. I hope you have a great day.
Thanks for clarifying. Yes indeed, integrating stong emotion does require reflective thought and the aholes running the shite show figured out how to keep the stress level so high that they pretty much short circuited folks ability to do that. Also I believe that for too long many have been cut off from their own intuition and as a result their BS detectors are broken. As I have witnessed over and over , it really does not take great intellect or research to viscerally know when something is bad for you. In fact, it appears that intellect and research often get in the way of and override healthy intuition.
And as you say, everyone was already anxious and stressed and did not know what to do about it. So voila! the talking heads gave us the perfect target to pin all that lovely unease upon. And it was even fixable too; if you were willing to martyr yourself for the 'public good'. At last! I can be the self-sacrificing savior and resolve all my guilt and angst etc., by muzzling and isolating myself and accepting the role of guinea pig. Which to me signifies the intense degree of self-hatred infesting our species right now.
I have puzzled over the fear of death factor in all this because my crowd is older, is already surviving multiple health issues and have faced death many times in many ways. Therefore, the extreme reaction from so many elder folks left me scratching my head. If covid killed the young, I could understand the over the top response by my own crowd. But it was clear from the beginning that it was the old and unhealthy who were most at risk. I get that they did not want to die, but really when you are over 60 surely you have made some kind of peace with your own mortality? That is why I think this was more about fear of losing one's identity by truthfully facing the breakdown of society; then it was about just the fear of physical death itself. Because really isn't our fear of death ultimately based mostly on the fear of losing our self-identity?
If what you are saying is that fear of physical death is a factor for some (or even many) young folks but that it shouldn't have played such a large role for the older set, then I agree. I'm 76 and share some insights into that older set.
Age and obesity are the most dangerous comorbidities for covid. At last count, 42% of U.S. adults are classified as obese, so it shouldn't be surprising that a sizable number of younger people felt threatened and therefore worried about their own death.
As for the older crowd, I think their reaction might also have something to do with loss of control. Personally, I'm not afraid of death but I want to go on my own terms. Mandates amplify the sense that one has lost control. And as we age we naturally lose a degree or two of control in any case. We're physically weaker; more dependent. Being past prime working age, we're more financially vulnerable. And so on.
In the end, I believe there is one inescapable conclusion. We're in for some very tough times ahead.
Ain't that the truth! Tough times indeed. I hope folks remember that at the end of the day we are really really going to need each other. Political differences don't matter much when you are depending on your neighbor for your own survival. Alot of what is going on are generations that have been supported in being self-indulgent and entittled. My own elders would have laughed themselves silly over most of this crap.
Good insight about mandates magnifying that loss of control for older folks. I guess I had the opposite reaction. If it is all going to end with this pandemic, well then I am going to die doing what I want to do. And of course as I investigated I discovered that it was unlikely I was going to die, so might as well live doing what I want!
I believe we are thinking along similar lines. You said it much more eloquently than I could. Many years ago I read a book titled "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway." It seems to me it takes reflective thought to find your way through that process. And if you don't follow through with it (not enough reflective thought), the emotion will continue to dominate (too much emotion).
One of the preconditions for mass formation is widespread "free-floating anxiety". I agree that living in a system that is obviously failing is more than most people can cope with. In addition, with respect to covid, I wonder if part of the anxiety for many people isn't coming from the fact that they have not come to terms with their own death. As you say, life is risky. But day-to-day living has isolated us from many of life's essential realities.
Thanks for your reply and for the conversation. I hope you have a great day.
Thanks for clarifying. Yes indeed, integrating stong emotion does require reflective thought and the aholes running the shite show figured out how to keep the stress level so high that they pretty much short circuited folks ability to do that. Also I believe that for too long many have been cut off from their own intuition and as a result their BS detectors are broken. As I have witnessed over and over , it really does not take great intellect or research to viscerally know when something is bad for you. In fact, it appears that intellect and research often get in the way of and override healthy intuition.
And as you say, everyone was already anxious and stressed and did not know what to do about it. So voila! the talking heads gave us the perfect target to pin all that lovely unease upon. And it was even fixable too; if you were willing to martyr yourself for the 'public good'. At last! I can be the self-sacrificing savior and resolve all my guilt and angst etc., by muzzling and isolating myself and accepting the role of guinea pig. Which to me signifies the intense degree of self-hatred infesting our species right now.
I have puzzled over the fear of death factor in all this because my crowd is older, is already surviving multiple health issues and have faced death many times in many ways. Therefore, the extreme reaction from so many elder folks left me scratching my head. If covid killed the young, I could understand the over the top response by my own crowd. But it was clear from the beginning that it was the old and unhealthy who were most at risk. I get that they did not want to die, but really when you are over 60 surely you have made some kind of peace with your own mortality? That is why I think this was more about fear of losing one's identity by truthfully facing the breakdown of society; then it was about just the fear of physical death itself. Because really isn't our fear of death ultimately based mostly on the fear of losing our self-identity?
If what you are saying is that fear of physical death is a factor for some (or even many) young folks but that it shouldn't have played such a large role for the older set, then I agree. I'm 76 and share some insights into that older set.
Age and obesity are the most dangerous comorbidities for covid. At last count, 42% of U.S. adults are classified as obese, so it shouldn't be surprising that a sizable number of younger people felt threatened and therefore worried about their own death.
As for the older crowd, I think their reaction might also have something to do with loss of control. Personally, I'm not afraid of death but I want to go on my own terms. Mandates amplify the sense that one has lost control. And as we age we naturally lose a degree or two of control in any case. We're physically weaker; more dependent. Being past prime working age, we're more financially vulnerable. And so on.
In the end, I believe there is one inescapable conclusion. We're in for some very tough times ahead.
Ain't that the truth! Tough times indeed. I hope folks remember that at the end of the day we are really really going to need each other. Political differences don't matter much when you are depending on your neighbor for your own survival. Alot of what is going on are generations that have been supported in being self-indulgent and entittled. My own elders would have laughed themselves silly over most of this crap.
Good insight about mandates magnifying that loss of control for older folks. I guess I had the opposite reaction. If it is all going to end with this pandemic, well then I am going to die doing what I want to do. And of course as I investigated I discovered that it was unlikely I was going to die, so might as well live doing what I want!