Buddhists, for example, believe that fear is a sign of attachment. (This rules out extreme thrill seeking and other fear-provoking situations that are ultimately just entertainment.)įear also can signal where people need to do moral work on themselves. In practice, this could mean confronting your fear on behalf of people weaker than you-for instance, risking physical harm to bring someone else to safety in an emergency, or speaking up to stop bullying. The German philosopher Josef Pieper writes in The Four Cardinal Virtues that a man can only show courage when he “walks straight up to the cause of his fear and is not deterred from doing that which is good.” For Pieper, this final qualifier is important: The confrontation of fear must be oriented toward the common good. Attack these inordinate attachments-and be grateful for the fear that led you to them.īy this definition, fear is not the antithesis of courage. Brave people are not merely numb to danger or discomfort they feel and acknowledge fear, and just refuse to allow it to dominate their behavior. In his book Fear and Courage, Rachman makes the case that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to go forward in spite of it. He has concluded that courage is misunderstood when it is defined as complete fearlessness. The University of British Columbia psychologist Stanley Rachman, a leading expert on fear, has studied people in the world’s most dangerous professions, from bomb defusers to paratroopers. In particular, fear can help people cultivate several classic virtues that religious figures, sages, and secular moral traditions have all seen as essential for living a well-ordered life. Fear can be one of the great sources of personal improvement. But science and philosophy often suggest otherwise. Given that real fear can be scarring and unpleasant, there’s a temptation to believe that the best way to deal with it is to avoid it at all costs. To enjoy genuine mortal danger is considered abnormal: Indeed, in psychology, the “fear-enjoyment hypothesis” holds that pleasure from authentic fear increases along with sociopathic traits. Not even roller-coaster fans look forward to losing their car’s brakes on a steep hill. Real threats, however, are far less enjoyable. They simulate frightening circumstances that lie outside the realm of ordinary life, providing a fun shot of adrenaline without putting anyone in actual danger. These pursuits are occasions of “fake” fear. Thompson’s famous exhortation, “Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.” Quasi-dangerous activities like roller coasters are a big industry as well, following Hunter S. Horror films gross nearly half a billion dollars per year, and are known in Hollywood to have the best return on investment in the movie business. This year, we will spend an estimated $9.1 billion celebrating Halloween. On the one hand, we enjoy fear enough to dedicate a holiday to it. the Mafia offers a compelling binge you can't refuse.Americans have a complicated relationship with fear. If you're a true crime fan craving an insightful look at how these tough guys were outsmarted by surveillance tech, however, Fear City: New York vs. If you're expecting another romanticized take on the mafia, you may want to rewatch your favorite Scorsese flick. The occasional, graphic crime scene photo of a bullet-riddled murder victim is as violent and lurid as the series ever gets. Conversations with a pair of former mobsters add some gangland flavor - as do audio clips of the bugged exchanges and video surveillance of meetings - but this story's more about the good guys than the wise guys. Interviews with other FBI operatives, as well as with federal prosecutors, also offer an engaging look at how the RICO Act was used to essentially bring down the mob as a corrupt corporation rather than a violent criminal organization. Particularly, the three-part series heavily focuses on the FBI's use of audio surveillance to implicate the bosses of the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families.The agents responsible for planting the bugs, dubbed "Black Bag Men," recount their stories with absorbing detail, while reenactments ratchet the tension of their tales. While its sensationalized title might suggest a broad, gritty look at New York's mafia problem in the '70s and '80s, this true crime documentary actually offers a granular, tamer peek into the methods used to bring down the city's most influential criminal organizations.
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