Dialogue

Philosophy Question

Introductory Paragraphs

I am addressing a philosophical question regarding the origins and reasoning behind anger as a negative emotion in our lives. It seems like anger can be destructive to both yourself and those around you. People do not seem to understand that they have the ability to control anger, as it is such a powerful emotion when it surfaces. Anger blinds people from the enlightened path that could be taken as an alternate route which is much better than the dark path that anger leads down. He who is angry forgets logic and reason, acting on impulse and emotions alone. Rather than get angry in a bad situation, one must look at failure as an opportunity to learn, so that they may succeed in the future. Though it is difficult, we all must make a conscious effort to bring our emotions into our conscious thought, so that when negative emotions threaten our psyche, we can curb them into constructive emotions and come out of the situation with a better understanding of the world around us.

The idea of anger was present in many of the books we read this year. While Man’s Search for Meaning and Things Fall Apart gave similar views of how anger can be harmful to one’s health, they did so in sharply contrasting ways. Man’s Search for Meaning showed how having a mind free of these negative emotions saved the prisoners’ lives. This gave them strength to persevere and work, and also allowed them to think clearly enough not to make any poor decisions that could result in their deaths. On the other hand, in Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo demonstrated what happens when anger takes control. His reputation plummeted, and he ended up committing suicide in the end of the story.

Response (Adam Rhum)

This is a very interesting opinion regarding anger. I used to have anger issues and I would just hit people. I was a victim of the issue you brought up in the first paragraph. I definitely agree that we can turn anger into a constructive tool. However, from personal experience, I have realized that it is very very hard to see past anger and think rationally and logically. I have struggled with this many times. Many of the stupid decisions humans make come from anger. I agree that if humans in general had more patience, or we found a way to teach patience better, then much of the violence and many of the conflicts between people would disappear

1. Do you think it is possible for anger to be healthy? If so, when are those times?

2. Why do you think humans get angry? What causes anger?

3. What do you think the world would be like with no anger or just less anger?

Response to Questions

1) I do not think that anger can be healthy. I think that when people believe that anger can be healthy, they mistake it for a completely different emotion, such as determination, confidence, a strong will, or any mix of these and other emotions like them. Another time when people falsely believe that anger can be healthy is when people are angry initially, then take control of their emotions and transform their anger to something else. The anger is not actually healthy. Instead, it is the conscious effort to change that produces the positive results.

2) Humans get angry because it is such a potent emotion that people do not understand that it can be controlled. Most often, people seem to accept it as an inevitability in life. Those who get angry often are those with a weak mind. If people were taught to control their emotions earlier in life, we would all live much happier lives. However, as the majority of people do not think about these things, children are raised unaware of the importance of controlling emotions, and as they get older and grow up, it becomes harder and harder to change. This anger is caused by any number or things, ranging from actions to words to other emotions. People can get angry because somebody else did something wrongful to them, such as Okonkwo attacking the white messenger after the missionaries had all but conquered and converted his native village. People can get angry because they fail, which is often evident in sports, more specifically the volleyball story I discussed back in part I. Frustration can often lead to anger. Often in school, students who do not do well on a test turn their frustration outward into anger at the teacher, blaming the teacher for not teaching well enough instead of trying to figure out what could have been done to get a better score.

3) I think there are two different ways to look at this question. First is if, this second, all the anger was erased from the earth. In this case, I don’t think that the world would turn out for the better. True, there might not be any war or hate, but at the same time, most people would not know how to handle themselves. People would also lose the emotions that they believed came along with anger, such as determination. They would render themselves boring and dry. However, the second way to look at this question would be if everybody on earth had been raised to ignore and filter their anger. In this case, the world would still be filled with excitement, still without war or hate, but at the same time still with competition. The world would still be productive and people could still feel the true high of being happy. Many people have in their minds the idea that happiness would not be possible without the presence of its opposite emotion: anger. However, there are other emotions that can be substituted that are much more constructive that will still allow for happiness to thrive in our minds.
Response – Adam Rhum
1) I agree that anger is basically never healthy. It creates disincentives to act rationally, and people only want to get “payback”. However, I do think that it is necessary for anger to exist. The existence of anger creates duality so that people have a scale to compare peace with anger. With no anger, people would not know tranquility and peace. However, I cannot think of a situation where it is healthy to have anger. Although it is important to feel and have emotions, the emotion of anger only creates more problems. If humans could still function properly when they were angry then there would not be an issue with anger. But that is never the case,.
2) I think that humans get angry because, like you said, they are often reluctant to take blame by themselves. Anger is always directed at other people or things. Humans are selfish and never believe that things were their fault. If humans were less selfish then they would understand that many of the things that they get angry about are usually caused by themselves.
3) Like I said in response to the first question, I strongly believe that there needs to be an existence of hate and anger in the world. Although both of those seem to be totally bad, they create good. The existence of those creates duality so that humans can understand the difference between good and bad. Anger is very bad, but it makes humans appreciate peace, tranquility, and the lack of anger. I do agree though that limited anger is the ideal situation. It must exist, but people in general cannot be so angry.
a. How can anger be limited?