>at least at asome point fear and it's effects(fight vs. flight) was
>probably useful, or we'd not have evolved it. But I think many emotions
>that were at one point useful, have nowadays become detrimental to our
>sanity, (both indivdually and as a society) and happiness (both again).
It is amazing to me how we only see things when they fail. Every body uses
fight and flight everyday on some scale or another and usually it works.
Admittedly much of it is ritualized and institutionalized to make the decision
process less damaging to both the individual and society and to make the out
come more predictable. The most common version of this is "competition" and
"capitulation" (flight from authority), both of which are absolutely necessary
for societies and individuals. A lot of how an individual and society define
themselves is wrapped up in how it invokes "fight" and "flight" reactions in a
variety of contexts. Most memes and/or mores that involve decision making
institutionalize a given fight vs. flight reaction to a given set of events.
I sure your saying this is not the thing I was talking about, you mean the
unconscious reaction to an extreme situation that cause a person to react
poorly and make the wrong decision. But it is not the need for a fight or
flight reaction or even weather it should be a fight or flight that people
tend to have problems with, but rather the result of the reaction itself which
is determined by memes, training, psychology, etc. of the person making the
decision.
Ray Higgins "Believing is Seeing"
rayhiggins@aol.com