“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”
You have one lengthy paragraph to comment on this statement, good luck /lit/.
[claim that OP is in highschool and that this isn't a homework board]
>>7945568
Can't we just have nice things for once, you minimalist frog poster?
>>7945558
That's wrong, however. As emotions can be traced all the way to the animals, neither the most basic emotion will be fear, nor the most basic fear would be of the unknown.
>>7945596
Nobody said the paragraph had to be supporting, or that the statement was a fact.
>>7945596
Well, news flash, we are animals. Why would you say the most basic emotion is not fear? What is your alternative?
>>7945600
horniness
>>7945608
Fear of not reproducing you mean?
"The unknown" is pretty vast. In fact I'm having trouble thinking of things I fear that can't be described as unknown. I fear pain, but only because I'm feeling none at the present. Would I still fear it if I were in pain? I would fear more pain, more of the same, so I guess pain is one of those things that animals fear that isn't unknown. As>>7945596 said fear is from the animal part of us, but there are some human specific fears like fear of the future and even fear of death, that fall under the unknown.
>this is how I fill my essays and research papers. I am the filler master.
>>7945613
lol, yeah, that's what I think of every time I masturbate
also, hunger is about equivalent to horniness
>>7945616
>"The unknown"
>He tries to tell me what I put inside of me?
Where have I heard that lyric before? The unknown is just new ideas. Everything else is pretty boring tbqh senpai.
>>7945621
Well, you wouldn't be masturbating if you didn't have a fear of woman faggot. Got ya >:)
>>7945616
>I'm having trouble thinking of things I fear that can't be described as unknown
How could you fear it if it is unknown? If you knew what it was you could fear it, but not if it doesn't exist. You can't even tell what it entails. Maybe we fear uncertainty, not the unknown.
>>7945668
I don't like that. How can we attach a divine nature to it if we don't even know the substance matter?
>>7945678
That's because you fear it.
>>7945678
and, divine is a relative nature that's become meaningless. now it means conceiving God as an unbroken hymen or a choir boy who hasn't been anally raped
>>7945681
No, because it doesn't follow.
>>7945686
If you didn't fear it, you wouldn't not like it. You would be indifferent.
how trite, it's not even insightful lol. is every passage this man wrote cliche-haunted garbage?
>>7945689
I need to distinguish between what I like and don't like so that I have a basis to make decision on about life. I don't fear it, but I am not in agreement in it. For example, I don't fear gay people - because I'm not gay and they pose no threat to me - but I don't like their way of life.
>>7945706
You already know what you like and don't like.
The only problem you may have is you don't like that you like something.
btw, the converse is not also true. liking that you don't like something poses no threat.
It's not about fear. It's about distinguishing between wrong and right, so that I can make decision in my life for my betterment. I don't fear gays, but I disapprove of their lifestyle. Simple.
>>7945678
I think you're misinterpreting it.
He is not saying that we fear a specific unknown thing.
He is saying that we fear the fact of the unknown.
>>7945808
Correctamundo!
>>7945558
The most basic emotion is comfort, and its opposite, discomfort. These are the main things an infant feels. It get hungry, wet, cold, or sleepy and these things cause a generalized feeling of discomfort.
Fear starts with fear of social ostracization and fear of bodily harm. "The Unknown" is pretty abstract.
OP just popping in here for another perspective, perhaps there are no most basic emotions, but instead a spectrum of different once. Almost something we can relate to the particle zoo?
>>7945833
Nah, check out the eight circuit model of consciousness. The first four circuits are in order of development.
>>7945823
fear of the idea, senpai
If we didn't think about it, we wouldn't have the opportunity fear it!
>>7945828
Those aren't emotions. Those are qualifiers of emotions.
Fear of bodily harm is actually terror. It's an automatic reaction that has no thought.
>>7945828
Is it not the other way around? Our basic emotion is discomfort. We're constantly assaulted by things that can be better. Only when there is less discomfort (negative) are we comfortable.
>>7945872
Discomfort is not an emotion because it is always felt, consciously or unconsciously, by humans and animals (for example, shifting in your sleep is to prevent a kind of discomfort).
An emotion starts in the brain, not in the body.
>>7945872
It's both, really.
Chicken or egg, senpai?
>>7945889
>emotions are defined by their duration
>>7945863
Fear of bodily harm doesn't necessarily entail terror. Imagine I'm afraid that of getting an injection, because I think it might hurt, an injection is a case of mild bodily harm (which we suffer because of the great benefit they entail) but one can easily imagine the level of fear being experienced as lesser than that of terror. Indeed, mild fear of low-key medical procedures, dentistry would be another example, is very common.
>>7945898
I wrote "always" to mean that it applies to every animal
>>7945613
No actually fear of the unknown is just horniness for the known.
>>7945872
Get out of here, Schoppy.
>>7945833
There are three dimensions of emotion (corresponding to levels of serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline) resulting in a cube whose corners represent the eight basic emotions:
Shame/humiliation
Distress/anguish
Fear/terror
Anger/rage
Contempt/disgust
Surprise
Enjoyment/Joy
Interest/excitement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6vheim_cube_of_emotion
This thread is awful.
>>7945918
>corresponding to levels of serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline
That's a massive oversimplification.
>>7945918
8 corners, but only two of them are positive emotions. 3 if you're into sm.
>>7945926
We're products of evolution, and pain is a better motivator than pleasure.
>>7945932
Nobody said anything about how antidepressants work.
The fact is, there is an observed correlation between monoamine transmission and affect. The ultimate causal mechanism is not known, but the correlation alone is sufficient for labeling the axes.
>>7945926
There are many ways for something to go wrong, and relatively few ways it can go right. It's called "the Anna Karenina principle":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Karenina_principle
>>7945558
Isn't this a quote by HP Lovecraft?
fear may not be the oldest known emotion but it sure is spooky senpai
>>7946027
Most likely.
the unknown! daaaeeeehhhhh!!!
I love how pseuds disregard lovecraft while actual real writers and philosophers tend to love him
>>7946082
I don't see how people can disregard Lovecraft. Hes a very interesting person and his works are even more so.
BTW faggots, OP here, thanks for the content for my essay. Catch yall on the flip
Frogposter you are wise :)
>>7946145
The only faggot here is you for being so stupid you can't write one paragraph on a simple phrase.
>>7946194
I can you retard, I just wanted some fresh perspective.
>biological imperative is the same thing as feelings
Wew
