What is anger?
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What is anger?
Anger is something we all have – right? What is it? It seems like it is an emotion that gets linked to another emotion or thought or behavior or situation or combination of the above.
How does it come about and why?
What does it do to us?
How does it define us?
Is it bad?
Is it useful?
Is anger justified?
Does it have a good function?
Do you see it around here?
What does anger show you about yourself?
What do you think about angry people?
Is anger about insecurity?
What motivates us to anger?
Can we control anger?
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Re: What is anger?
Animals without higher self-consciousness will rely on their instincts to express the relevant emotions.
However, humans with higher self-consciousness need to do better and must modulate their emotions to progress for humanity sake.
I quote this very often;
The primary emotions are mixed with other emotions and impulses to form secondary emotions.Anybody can become angry - that is easy,
but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.
- Aristotle
Emotions can be modulated and measured via Emotional Quotient [EQ] ratings.
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Re: What is anger?
1. How does it come about and why?
Anger is a physiological response to perceived threat, either physical pain or in case of humans psychological "injustice" in absence of a better term.
2. What does it do to us?
It triggers an endocrine response from the adrenal gland, releasing Epinephrine (adrenaline) in what's commonly described as a "fight or flight response". Epinephrine will bind to receptors of the sympathetic nervous system with global body response to increase metabolic function of most body systems, except for gastrointestinal and urinary systems that best function with parasympathetic neurotransmitter stimulation of Acetyl choline. This is an evolutionary adaptation to temporarily enhance vision, breathing, elevate body temperature, increase intensity and speed of electrical activity in the brain (to think faster and more clearly), skeletal muscle and liver to release glucose from glycogen as readily available pool to produce ATP (energy source) for muscle contraction and all other activity in the body.
3. How does it define us?
An interesting approach to anger in such formulation of a question. I'm not sure if anger does or should "define" human behavior, other than elevate the significance of the situation.
4. Is it bad?
It's bad to overall health of the body exposed to stress for prolonged period of time, increasing "wear and tear" of all body systems.
5. Is it useful?
Absolutely yes, it's essential to the survival of the species and each individual in "real" danger.
6. Is anger justified?
That depends on the situation.
7. Does it have a good function?
Similar answer as in 5. Unless you meant the efficiency of the endocrine system... then it depends on genetics.
8. Do you see it around here?
I presume that you mean "here" as in this philosophy forum, not just this thread. Sometimes. The question becomes is it justified in purpose? My answer would be: not always.
9. What does anger show you about yourself?
That the physiological responses are not always easy to control using intellect of mind.
10. What do you think about angry people?
I think they deserve compassion because in rare occasions they may require medical attention (Pheochromocytoma or Hyperthyroidism). For all other instances it implies inability to cope with prolonged stress, which should be treated with compassion as well.
11. Is anger about insecurity?
Insecurity may lower the threshold in perception of danger or injustice but anger is not entirely the result of insecurity, especially if such insecurity is well justified.
12. What motivates us to anger?
Stress, in short answer
13. Can we control anger?
We can control our perception and thoughts about the reality but not the physiological response.
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Re: What is anger?
Anger is a galvanising emotion, a gathering of courage to act (probably rashly and foolishly hehehe). Most of us are so well "house trained" in society, so routinely decent, that we need to be angry to cause another harm. It is this very reflex gentrification that military training aims to overcome so that a soldier with gentle first instincts can kill without hesitation. There is a reason why sergeant majors tend to goad and insult trainees - to harden their mindset with anger.
All social predatory species have a Jekyll and Hyde character - the cooperator and friend within the group and the ruthless killer to others. Essentially, those not in the in-group - threats, prey and "neutrals" - are objectified. This objectification has been naturally selected since a predator that hesitated through empathy won't compete effectively with its more decisive peers.
It is this predators' ability to switch off their usual in-group empathy as regards outsiders that human anger taps into. Anger lets us objectify, and objects are less subject to moral limits.
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Re: What is anger?
Before anger stress builds up. If you simply do some hard physical exercise you'll feel better and have a clearer head.
Before anger frustration builds up. If you direct your focus to another task a solution may more easily present itself.
Before anger worries build up. If you pay attention to the over all importance and gain a better perspective on the problem you'll be better equipped to approach it.
Anger tells us we've reached a point where some choice we made was not the best choice to make. It is necessary to recognize anger and useful to recognize anger and the signs we're given prior to reaching boiling point.
We all get angry. Be angry, let it out as quickly as possible then set to the task of enjoying finding possible solutions to deal with the problem at hand or put the problem in perspective and give yourself a break by attending to another task, or just do some exercise and let your mind switch off for a while.
It is very, very easy to be agitated on forums when you first join them. I used to get quite angry with some posts and it took time for me to adapt my approach to reading posts. If other people are involved then empathy is the best way to understand the conflict.
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Re: What is anger?
Psychologists say it's healthy to get angry. So it's not bad. I think it does more harm to forcefully have to "forgive" when you're not ready. Anger comes from two places, self-importance and self-preservation. It often motivates us to withdraw from that which we feel obliged to stay in and often have been manipulated into staying. Anger helps us to leave things behind, that we are not supposed to carry. Anger is justified, but not all our reactions to anger are. Anger reminds us that we can only trust ourselves in the end; what it shows us about ourselves is that our values are our own treasures and that others have to learn their lessons for them self. It teaches us not to place too much faith and hope in people; we all live our own lives. It reminds us that we are just as selfish as the one with whom we are angry. From anger we learn that what we value is sometimes unique to only us. We are not motivated to anger, it's a sudden realization of dreams and motivations not shared, but made meaningless by others.Woodart wrote:What is anger?
Anger is something we all have – right? What is it? It seems like it is an emotion that gets linked to another emotion or thought or behavior or situation or combination of the above.
How does it come about and why?
What does it do to us?
How does it define us?
Is it bad?
Is it useful?
Is anger justified?
Does it have a good function?
Do you see it around here?
What does anger show you about yourself?
What do you think about angry people?
Is anger about insecurity?
What motivates us to anger?
Can we control anger?
A woman cries over her dead child, while somewhere, someone is irritated by the noise, because they cannot concentrate on writing this. Anger, sometimes, is the realization that no one cares.
- If you can paint the wind, I will tell you the secrets of the soul.
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Re: What is anger?
Anger can be premeditated or spontaneous and/or both. Anger can also be subconscious and live below our awareness. Anger is usually linked with one or more other emotions – like hate – lust – jealousy – envy – sadness – insecurity - pride – or even love. Anger can sneak up on us – even surprise us. Anger usually has a defensive function – but – it can be offensive too.
I think it is important to control one’s anger; however it is also imperative not to stifle it. It takes courage to recognize you are angry. Many times people ignore or hide from their own anger. This is not healthy – obviously. We are charged to balance our response to anger – in both giving and receiving anger. Display too much anger and you might kill someone. Not show enough anger and you may be killed.
Anger is useful to motivate us and to focus our attention. Getting angry at oneself can be very constructive; however the reverse is also true – anger can lead us to self destruction and/or torment. Anger is a powerful emotion, but can also be very subtle. Passive aggressive behavior is an expression of anger; which we all engage in. Many times we are not even aware we are doing it. Other times we contrive a scenario to inflict pain or anguish on another in the most concealed way.
Anger is interesting.
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Re: What is anger?
It's opposite is fear.
-- Updated August 15th, 2017, 11:41 pm to add the following --
LuckyR wrote:Anger is caused by unmet expectations, thus those without expectations are immune to it.
It's opposite is sorrow.
- Socrateaze
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Re: What is anger?
Yes, I was just talking this morning to a friend about how we suppress our emotions. We think we are strong when we do not show compassion or allow ourselves to be sensitive. We cover our feelings up with anger and malevolence, because we think it shields us from the pain others inflict on us. I find when I open myself to things that reminds me about that part of myself that I have forgotten, which is gentle and kind; I relieve myself from the self-deceit that cruelty makes me stronger.Woodart wrote:Anger can be good or bad or both. Anger is an emotion, but it also has a psychological disposition. Anger portends to have righteousness. Most of the time we get angry and we feel justified to be so. We have a reason to be angry. Whether the reason is good or bad is superfluous to truth or what is right. Anger is the engine behind our actions for a great many things. Anger is the bellows that stokes the fire in our belly and motivates us to action.
Anger can be premeditated or spontaneous and/or both. Anger can also be subconscious and live below our awareness. Anger is usually linked with one or more other emotions – like hate – lust – jealousy – envy – sadness – insecurity - pride – or even love. Anger can sneak up on us – even surprise us. Anger usually has a defensive function – but – it can be offensive too.
I think it is important to control one’s anger; however it is also imperative not to stifle it. It takes courage to recognize you are angry. Many times people ignore or hide from their own anger. This is not healthy – obviously. We are charged to balance our response to anger – in both giving and receiving anger. Display too much anger and you might kill someone. Not show enough anger and you may be killed.
Anger is useful to motivate us and to focus our attention. Getting angry at oneself can be very constructive; however the reverse is also true – anger can lead us to self destruction and/or torment. Anger is a powerful emotion, but can also be very subtle. Passive aggressive behavior is an expression of anger; which we all engage in. Many times we are not even aware we are doing it. Other times we contrive a scenario to inflict pain or anguish on another in the most concealed way.
Anger is interesting.
Like you say anger can be constructive and it helps us to survive, but to make it a lifestyle is not the way to go.
- If you can paint the wind, I will tell you the secrets of the soul.
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Re: What is anger?
For example, a woman came storming in the office and screams at people how truly awful we all are. I ask her why she thinks so and she tells us about how her daughter has not gotten the help she needs for months and that is unacceptable, a few minutes later she's telling the whole story about how her daughter had been bullied for years and as a result her mental health had gotten worse and worse, the mother was devistated because of how she could not fulfill her need to help and protect her baby girl from that pain and mental illness. She was only angry because of how she could find no relief for her sadness and worry for her child.
Same thing generally happens regardless of who it is, even the most mentally unstable people I've met has their anger come from one need or another. It can be something huge and for me unfixable, like a lifetime of hearing voices telling them all sorts of the most awful things, to something seemingly tiny like someone cutting them in line or stealing their food. The theory might not be accurate for all I know, and I might have misinterpreted my observations, but it does make sense to me.
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Re: What is anger?
I think this is a strong point – not having our needs or expectations met – does seem to trigger anger. So, can we make a generalization about gender in relation to anger? Are men angrier than women? I don’t know, but men seem to be more overtly angry than women. Why? I think the answer is that men are controlled – pervasively – by testosterone. Testosterone rules men’s thinking – constantly – all day – every day. Men are prisoners of this hormone – and women are not. It is a funny thing, but I don’t think most women understand this fact about men. The reason is women are not ruled by testosterone. They don’t have it – much – and they don’t see it. It might be more accurate to say that women don’t emphasize this type of thinking and are therefore don’t take it into consideration as often.Annski wrote:
The theory I believe is the most likely to be accurate explains anger as the reaction of not having your needs met, it's the brains way of in certain cirsumstances and situations motivating yourself and signaling to your surroundings that you needed something and that didn't happen.
Testosterone causes men to be aggressive and assertive – you might say demanding - driven. Testosterone invades every aspect of male thinking. Is estrogen as powerful in female lives/thinking as testosterone is for men? I don’t know, but I suspect it is – and – I don’t understand what its effects are. I have heard it makes women more emotional, but does it drive them to be sexual? I don't know, but I tend to think not. Women don’t seem to be as sexually oriented as men. I would be very interested in some female responses.
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Re: What is anger?
Aight before I say anything else I just have to say the older I get the more I think the idea that women are less sexual, sexually oriented, or have less sex-drive in general is an old myth lmao... Female sexuality is just less visible in the media and what-not is all, and less accepted. I've personally experienced how male partners have actually gotten turned off when I showed how much sex-drive I actually have - which has always been less than them. Personal experience is not proof by any means, but literally every woman I know has had similar experiences. One of my friends was even told by her boyfriend that if she wanted sex more than he did, he would want someone else. Ouch! With female partners it's the contrary - I actually got sleep deprived with my ex because we had so much sex all night, it was ridiculus!Woodart wrote:I think this is a strong point – not having our needs or expectations met – does seem to trigger anger. So, can we make a generalization about gender in relation to anger? Are men angrier than women? I don’t know, but men seem to be more overtly angry than women. Why? I think the answer is that men are controlled – pervasively – by testosterone. Testosterone rules men’s thinking – constantly – all day – every day. Men are prisoners of this hormone – and women are not. It is a funny thing, but I don’t think most women understand this fact about men. The reason is women are not ruled by testosterone. They don’t have it – much – and they don’t see it. It might be more accurate to say that women don’t emphasize this type of thinking and are therefore don’t take it into consideration as often.Annski wrote:
The theory I believe is the most likely to be accurate explains anger as the reaction of not having your needs met, it's the brains way of in certain cirsumstances and situations motivating yourself and signaling to your surroundings that you needed something and that didn't happen.
Testosterone causes men to be aggressive and assertive – you might say demanding - driven. Testosterone invades every aspect of male thinking. Is estrogen as powerful in female lives/thinking as testosterone is for men? I don’t know, but I suspect it is – and – I don’t understand what its effects are. I have heard it makes women more emotional, but does it drive them to be sexual? I don't know, but I tend to think not. Women don’t seem to be as sexually oriented as men. I would be very interested in some female responses.
So to the testosterone; this has actually been put into question by a lot of research and if you look at trans men who take large amounts of testosterone regularly - how come they don't get more aggressive and angry despite the unnaturally high dose of T in their system? And how come there are men with incredibly masculine physical form, like The Rock, who certainly has a big testosterone production and yet aren't aggressive but rather gentle? If testosterone was the core of the issue then would we not just treat anger issues with testosterone supressors and estrogen?
More likely the answer to the gender question is far more complex. We are affected by society and our upbringing, and there are plenty of norms in place. In an experiment a group of adults were shown a video of a baby crying, however one half of the group were told the baby was a boy and the other half that the baby was a girl. After watching the participants were asked to describe the babys behavior and there was a significant difference in how the two groups answered. The adults who were told the baby was male overwhelmingly used words like "angry", "upset", "unsatisfied", while the group who were told the baby was female used words like "sad" and "scared". The baby and the video was the exact same, and yet the adults saw the obective material quite differently based on nothing but what they thought was the gender of the baby. Interestingly, this ties into common stereotypes and traditional gender roles. It's generally less acceptable for a woman to be assertive and angry, while it's less acceptable for men to be sad, hurt or scared. If we presume this is true, it would lead to two things;
1. Men are more free to show their anger than women
2. Men are less free to show and satisfy a wide range of their emotional needs than women
What I mean by the later is, if a person pents up their feelings of sadness, hurt, lonliness, and so on... What happens? Carrying that around and not getting to talk about it is frustrating, and ventilating our feelings is a human need. This ties back into the theory about where anger comes from - when people don't get their needs met anger can erupt as a result. In feminist theory there's a term called "toxic masculinity" which is an attempt to describe the phenomenon where some boys are taught "boys don't cry" and as a result don't get to express themselves and their wide range of emotions fully, but are confined to only a few accepted emotions (including rage) and/or only in specific situations because being vulnerable is deemed not manly. There's an interesting study named "Boys Don't Cry" which explores how and why young men who come to therapy for depression are often a lot more depressed with far worse symtoms by the time they get help than their female counterparts, and in general they're more difficult to work with due to motivation and willingness to open up is lower. In the study they bring up data about how even though more women attempt suicide, more men actually die from suicide. They also talk about how when working with boys they found it to be a factor contributing to success if they started with the outlook that the boys would resist opening up and treating them in a more "manly" fashion - specifically not focusing on the emotional issues until much later than they would with girls. There was also a therapist who specifically said that if he implied his male clients were vulnerable too soon, for example by asking about him getting hurt by others, many clients would reject it and get defensive while girls were far more quick to open up about bad experiences and how it had affected them.
Not to make this an entire essay or anything, but there's also the way that women have a tendancy to internalize while men externalize. This comes from studies on the demographics of mental illness and why more women than men appear to have depression and anxiety. To sum things up, women appear to blame themselves for the things that happen to us and are more prone to aggression towards one self and thus more likely to self-harm. While men appear more likely to keep their anger on their sleeve and blame others which leads to aggressive behavior. On top of that there's the whole dominance aspect, but I don't know if it's worth getting into that as well so I'll leave my point here ^^
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Re: What is anger?
Annski wrote:
Aight before I say anything else I just have to say the older I get the more I think the idea that women are less sexual, sexually oriented, or have less sex-drive in general is an old myth lmao... Female sexuality is just less visible in the media and what-not is all, and less accepted. I've personally experienced how male partners have actually gotten turned off when I showed how much sex-drive I actually have - which has always been less than them. Personal experience is not proof by any means, but literally every woman I know has had similar experiences. One of my friends was even told by her boyfriend that if she wanted sex more than he did, he would want someone else. Ouch! With female partners it's the contrary - I actually got sleep deprived with my ex because we had so much sex all night, it was ridiculus!
Thank you for your thoughtful response. I am not saying that women are not sexual – at all. Rather that they are not preoccupied with sexual thoughts and actions. Men seem to be preoccupied with sex. The sex drive in men seems stronger and it also seems different. Men are obsessed with climax and women are more focused on intimacy. Things are changing for the better nowadays – somewhat – but most women do not achieve a climax in heterosexual relationships.
psychologytoday.com/blog/all-about-sex/ ... ve-orgasms
In generations past – these statistics were much worse.
I do not think there is a direct correlation between testosterone and anger. I think it is indirect. If your needs are not being met – there may be anger. If your needs are being met – less frustration – less anger. I would say – the rock – is getting his needs met.Annski wrote:
So to the testosterone; this has actually been put into question by a lot of research and if you look at trans men who take large amounts of testosterone regularly - how come they don't get more aggressive and angry despite the unnaturally high dose of T in their system? And how come there are men with incredibly masculine physical form, like The Rock, who certainly has a big testosterone production and yet aren't aggressive but rather gentle? If testosterone was the core of the issue then would we not just treat anger issues with testosterone supressors and estrogen?
Annski wrote:
Annski wrote:
More likely the answer to the gender question is far more complex. We are affected by society and our upbringing, and there are plenty of norms in place. In an experiment a group of adults were shown a video of a baby crying, however one half of the group were told the baby was a boy and the other half that the baby was a girl. After watching the participants were asked to describe the babys behavior and there was a significant difference in how the two groups answered. The adults who were told the baby was male overwhelmingly used words like "angry", "upset", "unsatisfied", while the group who were told the baby was female used words like "sad" and "scared". The baby and the video was the exact same, and yet the adults saw the obective material quite differently based on nothing but what they thought was the gender of the baby. Interestingly, this ties into common stereotypes and traditional gender roles. It's generally less acceptable for a woman to be assertive and angry, while it's less acceptable for men to be sad, hurt or scared. If we presume this is true, it would lead to two things;
1. Men are more free to show their anger than women
2. Men are less free to show and satisfy a wide range of their emotional needs than women
I think there is a great societal influence which disposes how men and women behave. Men are allowed to display anger more in most societies – in fact it is expected. Women are discouraged from expressing anger. Again, I think this is related to sex. If a woman is angry – there is not going to be any sex. So, women are discouraged from being angry – so we can have sex.
I do believe women are more complex psychologically. They think about “things” more. Men tend to think about sex; hence they don’t “think” as much as women. For men it is all about sex and violence – what else do you need to know? Men are mostly brutes – oh – we have some thoughtful men around here, but these are not your typical males.Annski wrote:
Not to make this an entire essay or anything, but there's also the way that women have a tendancy to internalize while men externalize. This comes from studies on the demographics of mental illness and why more women than men appear to have depression and anxiety. To sum things up, women appear to blame themselves for the things that happen to us and are more prone to aggression towards one self and thus more likely to self-harm. While men appear more likely to keep their anger on their sleeve and blame others which leads to aggressive behavior. On top of that there's the whole dominance aspect, but I don't know if it's worth getting into that as well so I'll leave my point here ^^
I hope I have stirred this pot up a little bit!
-- Updated August 19th, 2017, 6:23 am to add the following --
I believe you are correct that women internalize anger more than men. Women are more passive aggressive than men. Women are dominated by men’s aggressive anger and literally beaten into submission physically and psychologically. Passive aggression is a cowardly type of response to a perceived threat. The threat to women is real, unfortunately, and they are forced to deal with a male world that is prone to violence. Men like violence because it works. Men are cowards too because they rely on violence, both physical and psychological, to dominate others – rather than reason and negotiation. For many men violence is negotiation. This is a sad circumstance and state of affairs of the human condition. It remains to be seen if we will be able to modify our responses to anger and evolve into a more harmonious being. Our future as a species depends on it – I am not sure we will summon the wherewithal to be a more peaceful creature.Annski wrote: To sum things up, women appear to blame themselves for the things that happen to us and are more prone to aggression towards one self and thus more likely to self-harm. While men appear more likely to keep their anger on their sleeve and blame others which leads to aggressive behavior. On top of that there's the whole dominance aspect, but I don't know if it's worth getting into that as well so I'll leave my point here ^^
I think we are at a crossroads in history. I think women must step forward and show men the error of their thinking. I do not think men are capable on their own to stop being violent. Women must employ the soft force and teach men the error of their ways. Remember the play - Lysistrata by Aristophanes – we need this now. Will it happen? I doubt it. Men are too stupid to see it on their own. Women are too cowardly and selfish to do what is necessary. We will all suffer together and continue down a rather dumb path – have a nice day
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Re: What is anger?
Like I said to you in PM I am pretty much in the Jungian field of thought regarding this kind of thing. I think all anger essentially stems from internal confliction (necessary, yet something that needs to be managed.) I am not really keen on commenting on purely speculation and opinion. If you could add more substance to the matter maybe you'll spark my interest more?
Men and women are certainly different. That much I can agree on.
If you'd like I could post some vids later or tomorrow maybe I find interesting? (Will likely be Jung.)
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Re: What is anger?
First and foremost, a split mind. Anger cannot perceive itself any more than an eye can see itself. The conscious awareness of anger demands an observer apart from the anger itself. Things get screwed-up when the observer identifies with the observed. This puts the seat of control on the animal level of existence.
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