Comments on: The Power of Love and Fear https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/ A Guide to Freedom and Happiness Wed, 25 Oct 2017 04:23:48 +0000 hourly 1 By: A Guide to Living in Trump's America | The Happy Philosopher https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/#comment-2864 Sun, 22 Jan 2017 00:26:33 +0000 http://thehappyphilosopher.com/?p=1291#comment-2864 […] like this gives you a sense of purpose and inspiration then I’m all for it, but it must be from a place of love, not anger or fear. Peaceful civil disobedience is something I can’t argue against in this case […]

]]> By: TheHappyPhilosopher https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/#comment-2415 Tue, 10 Jan 2017 01:50:02 +0000 http://thehappyphilosopher.com/?p=1291#comment-2415 In reply to daphne.

Mirror neurons are certainly interesting, but I still think in a way they are creating an illusion. Our brain is trying to recreate an experience we think someone is having.

Imagine the following experiment. You rewired a person to outwardly show the opposite emotion that they are feeling. If they were happy their body language would project sadness. What would you feel? Probably sadness, but you would be feeling an incorrect emotion as they are really happy.

Empathy is always experienced through the lens of our own experiences. Although we feel like we are experiencing another persons emotions, what we are really experiencing is our own.

This is not to say that empathy is not real or useful. It is both of these things and we should cultivate it.

Thanks for the comment and the article. Truthfully we probably have a very incomplete understanding of how empathy really works.

]]> By: daphne https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/#comment-2389 Mon, 09 Jan 2017 05:04:47 +0000 http://thehappyphilosopher.com/?p=1291#comment-2389 I enjoyed this article but I don’t think it’s accurate to say that empathy is an elaborate illusion — the study of mirror neurons suggests that we do literally feel the same way others are feeling, if these neurons are in working order.

http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/do_mirror_neurons_give_empathy

]]> By: TheHappyPhilosopher https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/#comment-2379 Sun, 08 Jan 2017 22:58:59 +0000 http://thehappyphilosopher.com/?p=1291#comment-2379 In reply to Mrs. Picky Pincher.

Yes, I think anxiety is rooted in worrying about the future. It is totally fear driven. I like the concept of running to freedom, rather than running from oppression. Same thing really, but one is a healthier mindset. Good luck crushing your debt and running to freedom 🙂

]]> By: TheHappyPhilosopher https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/#comment-2378 Sun, 08 Jan 2017 22:53:03 +0000 http://thehappyphilosopher.com/?p=1291#comment-2378 In reply to The Wealthy Accountant.

Thank you. I wrote mostly about fear because that is what I know, and I think most people struggle with it to some degree.

]]> By: Mrs. Picky Pincher https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/#comment-2363 Sun, 08 Jan 2017 01:43:15 +0000 http://thehappyphilosopher.com/?p=1291#comment-2363 This is a good distinction. I have anxiety that makes it very difficult not to view everything through the lens of fear. And that’s definitely not good. I believe living under the motivation of fear makes us less satisfied with our lives. It’s all about “running to” something instead of “running from” something.

Now that we’re on our journey to get out of debt, I finally have an image of what we’re running towards, and it looks great. Freedom. 🙂

]]> By: The Wealthy Accountant https://thehappyphilosopher.com/the-power-of-love-and-fear/#comment-2352 Sat, 07 Jan 2017 20:44:51 +0000 http://thehappyphilosopher.com/?p=1291#comment-2352 You spend most of the post on fear, of the two basic emotions. I agree with your approach. We will do more to avoid pain than gain pleasure. Fear has the ability to do so much more harm than love. Your post is a great starting point to face fear so it no longer controls us. A solid read, HP.

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