Comments on: Identifying what we value and what we fear http://socialmode.com/2008/04/30/identifying-what-we-value-and-what-we-fear/ Integrated Synthesis of Media, Society and Behavior Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:25:18 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: J Bryant http://socialmode.com/2008/04/30/identifying-what-we-value-and-what-we-fear/#comment-219 J Bryant Sun, 04 May 2008 20:17:51 +0000 http://un1crom.wordpress.com/?p=111#comment-219 There are no primal fears but there are fears that come and go with over-lapping development. Children do not fear water immediately after birth but it comes to be fearful later without any experience in fear production or without any fixed action pattern development. Conversely, falling or loss of body support creates a startle response set in children early in life but later in life it disappears. Fear works...period. We protect better than we avoid. People work almost twice as hard to keep what they have as they do to get more...money, food, clothes, touch, etc. Fear works because, like consequences, it is built into the gene code relative to the survival of the organism. The numbers, the pics, the horrific stories are what is conditioned that we adapt to (really 'habituate' to). When we see something really ugly [that breaks our new set of rules of what is 'ok'] we recoil anew. The recoil is the set of rules about the interaction that we had not entertained until confronted. When done in person it is flight or fight to avoid - escape. When done on TV it is 'sneak a peak' or turn off the data. The Hillary 3AM ad was an attempt to hit those that are already afraid... of a lot of change... of violence, of the 'bad' guys, of their own ineptness for absorbing how the past 7 years could have happened... That ad was about the context of life now and aimed at those still lamenting... lamenting safety and lamenting the loss of what they know was an illusion of of "might makes right." Implied is: "We were attacked and vulnerable so we may not be mighty any longer." Both candidates are telling the voters that they know what to replace that illusion with that is desirable. It is fear that is primal. We condition things [instrumental conditioning] that come to elicit fearful responses. Again, the citizens don't want more. They want to keep what they have and see that as being in jeopardy now. There are no primal fears but there are fears that come and go with over-lapping development. Children do not fear water immediately after birth but it comes to be fearful later without any experience in fear production or without any fixed action pattern development. Conversely, falling or loss of body support creates a startle response set in children early in life but later in life it disappears.

Fear works…period. We protect better than we avoid. People work almost twice as hard to keep what they have as they do to get more…money, food, clothes, touch, etc.

Fear works because, like consequences, it is built into the gene code relative to the survival of the organism. The numbers, the pics, the horrific stories are what is conditioned that we adapt to (really ‘habituate’ to). When we see something really ugly [that breaks our new set of rules of what is 'ok'] we recoil anew. The recoil is the set of rules about the interaction that we had not entertained until confronted. When done in person it is flight or fight to avoid – escape. When done on TV it is ’sneak a peak’ or turn off the data.

The Hillary 3AM ad was an attempt to hit those that are already afraid… of a lot of change… of violence, of the ‘bad’ guys, of their own ineptness for absorbing how the past 7 years could have happened… That ad was about the context of life now and aimed at those still lamenting… lamenting safety and lamenting the loss of what they know was an illusion of of “might makes right.” Implied is: “We were attacked and vulnerable so we may not be mighty any longer.” Both candidates are telling the voters that they know what to replace that illusion with that is desirable.

It is fear that is primal. We condition things [instrumental conditioning] that come to elicit fearful responses.

Again, the citizens don’t want more. They want to keep what they have and see that as being in jeopardy now.

]]> By: un1crom http://socialmode.com/2008/04/30/identifying-what-we-value-and-what-we-fear/#comment-213 un1crom Sat, 03 May 2008 13:53:53 +0000 http://un1crom.wordpress.com/?p=111#comment-213 Is there any concept of "primal" fear? Fears that aren't conditioned and aren't trivial like "there's a bear growling at me, i should run." yawn. but... is it possible for these conditioned fears to be confused as primal fears? not sure that question even makes sense. Some may respond to this post asking if what you say is accurate, why does fear work so well in the media? and I say, "it Doesn't!" we see the numbers, we see the pics but we never really experience the situations depicted and so our behavior is not conditioned. perhaps you could bring up the Hillary 3am ad. That might have worked on some voters because it wasn't about 3,000,000 dead in a war, it was about some person breaking into your home and taking your children.... as you say, just a thought. Is there any concept of “primal” fear? Fears that aren’t conditioned and aren’t trivial like “there’s a bear growling at me, i should run.”

yawn.

but… is it possible for these conditioned fears to be confused as primal fears? not sure that question even makes sense.

Some may respond to this post asking if what you say is accurate, why does fear work so well in the media?

and I say, “it Doesn’t!”

we see the numbers, we see the pics but we never really experience the situations depicted and so our behavior is not conditioned.

perhaps you could bring up the Hillary 3am ad. That might have worked on some voters because it wasn’t about 3,000,000 dead in a war, it was about some person breaking into your home and taking your children…. as you say, just a thought.

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