In most cases, I would say that I do not like to be scared. It puts me outside my comfort zone, and exposes me to things that I am not used to. Sometimes fear can be a good thing, like before a football game, where the fear can motivate you to be anxious and you know that you have to do something you've never done before.
I am scared of needles. I do not like needles at all, which is unfortunate, because inevitably I end up being poked by them. I am also scared of deep water. Like being in the middle of the ocean with nothing around you. No one to help you, nothing in sight, and not knowing what is underneath you. I guess I am more afraid of the unknown, and the ocean is simply a way that limited knowledge manifests itself.
Things that I consider to be horific are injustice, prejudice, discrimination, because there is no way to eradicate them, no way to evade their omnipresent ideals, and usually people fall prey to them even when they don't want to. Even people with good intentions are subconsiously opinionated against their will. Someone's appearance forms an idea in their mind that they cannot get rid of. The premanence of the "first impression" is what scares me. The fact that when someone sees you, their perception of you is already changed forever and there is nothing that you can say to them, nothing that you can do to get rid of their first thoughts about you. You can change their opinion afterward, but too many people don't spend the time to change that initial impression, and therefore the pessimistic side of the human conscious develops the unfounded hypothesis that the world is full of people that can't live up to their predetermined expectations.
A good definintion for madness is when your perception of the world around you is skewed from what is was before, or when your perception of the world is vastly different than that of everyone around you. To be considered mad, you would be someone who's actions are so uniquely peculiar that no one else has done them and no one else would want to do them.
As for what drives people to madness, in most cases it is a hardship of the most extreme nature. Watching your family die at the hands of some inexplicable mistake that you made, for example, would be enough to skew one's view of reality and thus drive them to madness.
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4 comments:
Your definition of madness really strikes me True. When our own individual perception of life is mixed up, we get caught up in the complexities of life instead of just living life. Great job Mr. Overholt. Profound thinking.
I agree with you about needles. I thought about giving blood, but I have to admit I was really relieved to know I wasn't eligible. Ithink that you have a more lenient definition of madness. It focused on alternate states of mind in general, rather than just evil tendencies.
I really like where you went with your whole view on what society thinks about first impressions. I think its just a matter of loosing control in a situation. When someone judges you, its scary that you can never do anything to change that perception. Pretty much what you just said in your post, yeah.
I agree with having fear to fuel your anxiousness before a game, or to get you motivated. I think that that helps me too, it's like an adrenaline rush that makes you want to overcome the fear. I also am afraid of needles, not that bad, but I guess you could say I don't like to be poked by them.
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