Discussion Does everything in life come down to fear? Fear of hunger, fear of pain, fear of death?

[LittleMonkey]

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[deadbody]

I think that fear is one of the driving forces of life in general. The infamous SI is based on the fear of death, as you stated in the title. This forces living beings to continue their path in this world. Only a human is able to interrupt this cycle of his own free will.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I think so- to a greater extent. Even the fear of failure or fear of being judged can motivate us to try and succeed. It's similar to the whole gratitude thing. People feel gratitude to fate or God- essentially because things have turned out better than they potentially could have. It's like- give thanks that life is no worse for you- as it is for other people. Kind of depressing really- not a very high bar is it?

I guess the exception is people who are doing well in life. They may feel secure enough not to worry about not getting their basic needs met. I imagine most fear losing it all to an extent but it might not be of immediate concern- if they are so focussed on their own success.

 

[Kattt]

I believe everything we do is driven by the survival instinct. Whether it's fear of the unknown or the subconscious urge to procreate and ensure the continuation of our genetic lineage, I think every choice we make is underpinned by this instinctive motivation.

 

[Pluto]

In my younger years I was deeply influenced by the theologian Neale Donald Walsch. According to his work, every free choice is either rooted in fear or love. It's worth pointing out that the definition of love in such a lofty context is not the sort of possessive or conditional affection of our society's convention, which itself can be largely traced to some sort of fear of loss.

In Walsch's book, the point was repeatedly made that the contemporary human species is still on the primordial end of a large spectrum, with all sorts of sublime spiritual territory unexplored before us.

From this perspective, the practical answer is that yes, every motivation as we know it boils down to fear. But according to some sources there is another way which we have not even scratched the surface of.

 

[doneforlife]

Yes. Whoever says love is the strongest emotion has not lived enough to understand how deep the emotion of fear goes..

 

[DEATH IS FREEDOM]

Fear keeps us alive. Humans have fear of life and fear of death.

 

[sserafim]

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Not sure, I think it comes more down to instinct, like the survival instinct for example. I think fear is a great driving force/motivator but not the main thing that life comes down to.

 

[starlightsun]

Yes. Whoever says love is the strongest emotion has not lived enough to understand how deep the emotion of fear goes..

Seconded.