Transdisciplinary Fear Discussions: KELECHI'S UNDERSTANDING OF FEAR

THE INTERVIEW

1. Tell us as much as you can about yourself.

I am Augustine Kelechi Ikegwu, Igbo by birth. I hail from Upe village in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigeria. I was born on the 16^th day of April 1993 as the sixth child of the family (nuclear). I am a Religious. After my philosophical studies at the Claretian Institute of Philosophy Nekede in Imo State, I obtained two degrees from her affiliate institutes (B.A) Imo State University (IMSU) and (B.Phil) Pontifical Urban University Rome.

Being a human rights activist, I see myself as a liberator and that led to the authoring of some articles, of which most of them are centered on contemporary issues concerning the world. Also, I have written a book on human dignity which is yet to be published, where I solicited for the recognition of man created in the image and likeness of God, as a being with worth and value (Dignity) in the society.

I have been influenced by writers like: Eric Williams, Soren Kierkegaard, Chinua Achebe, Stephen King and Rene Descartes

2. How do you see the reality of fear?

Fear is so real that it has made some persons to fail either in the society, field of study, or activity or relationships. Here, man can come to limit himself due to the initial apprehension of challenges and adopt the attitude: ‘I can’t do it’ instead of seeing it as simply a challenge.

The reality of fear in mankind is an instinct which is an essential reaction to a perceived threat. In itself, fear is a good thing, valuable to man’s safety. It comes to be related to problems only when it is based on false perceptions, or is inordinate in relation to the reality of the threat accurately perceived.

The existence of fear in man, can affect the personality for it refines the person one is and in turn gives one the courage to move further to the next level in life, or, alternatively may undermine the development of the personality.

Fear is so real that it exists in man and can be noticed by him, which manifests in the form of fast heartbeat, shivering of the body, ghost pimples on the body and weakness of certain parts of the body. The reality of fear in the human person can be seen as a defense mechanism, in the body which appears at the apprehension of an unknown thing.

The reality of fear in man can also be said to be rooted in his decisive nature, which permits him to take any decision at any point in time. When there is fear in a person, for instance, immediately, this reality pushes him to conclude either to run or to stand and get the knowledge of that which lies before him. Some have gone far in making this reality, a means of acquiring new knowledge of things that posed fear in them, while some have lost many opportunities in life due to fear.

4. Mention (if you know any) at least three Fearologist or psychologist or sociologist you know who said something on fear and succinctly state their central thesis.

Amongst those who have said something on fear or phobia are;

i Paul White in the book titled “ How to cure phobias and fears: dealing with everything from Agoraphobia to social phobias.” This was focused mainly on understanding of the basic difference between simple fear and panic. This teaching of White was not only made for those suffering from fear and anxiety, but also for every member of the human family.

ii Rhonda Britten in her work captioned “ Fearless Living: live without excuses and love without regret”, used her traumatic experiences to pose a better way of understanding the challenges of mastering fear which has helped many in their own problems and experiences in life. Her work is centered on emerging fearless by tackling the existence of fear in us, in order to avoid excuses and regrets in life.

iii Abigail Marsh in her book “The Fear Factor”, tried to lay bare two fundamental extremes in the human person, which are selfishness and Altruism. Marsh acclaimed that it lies in how the brain responds to the fear of others. The brain can call for these actions which can explain the heroic and psychopathic through its variations.

5. Do you think that fear is relevant to the society? If yes how relevant is it? If no why?

Truly, the existence of fear in the society is relevant, but it depends on how the individuals perceive this reality which shapes the society at large. As I have said earlier, the reality of fear is that, it can be perceived as a mechanism of defeat in some individuals who see this reality as a limiter of man and equally a means of piercing to higher achievement, for those who see the reality as a challenge to overcome. This can also be seen in the question itself which gave room for the dual nature of fear.

Several societies today are sliding back, due to the act of not utilizing very well, the very nature of fear which gives new knowledge of things as they lie hidden in the society therefore, making the society under-developed compared to its potential. Fear can be a destroyer of the society of man rather, an indicator of a new achievement in life, which points at new discoveries but depends on the courageous nature of the individuals of this very society who apprehended the reality of this phenomena in the first place. It is here that courage is applied for when we are faced with a reality which gives room for the emergence of such phobia, it reminds us of our very nature as man but the application of courage, changes our psyche towards the achievement of a new development in the society. For instance, the astronomers like Galileo Galilei, Vasco Da Gama who discovered the sea route to India, Mungo Park who commenced the voyage on the River Niger and many other discoveries by many people were as a result of the courage they applied to their expeditions.

The reality of fear is relevant in the different aspects of our society, be it cultural, socio-political or religious. There might be in existence the inappropriate function of the sectors of the society due to those at the head, creating an atmosphere of fear through threats and other possible means, the existence of fear in each sector, serves as a motivator which pushes us to act in a redemptive way. And this is when the members of the society due to several fierce things which have come their way say ‘enough is enough’ which is still a product of the courageous nature of man.

For a society to be developed, there must be fear to call for order and development for where fear is seen, there is possibility of development.

How can you explain fear from your own discipline?

Being a philosopher, and having evaluated the reality and existence of fear in man and the entire societies of man, I will say that fear works in line with the consciousness of man. When there is fear, it awakens the consciousness of man which calls for an action that may be moral or amoral. Fear therefore is an instinct in man that awakens the consciousness in man, which leads him to the route of serious thinking. The apprehension of fear, still connects with the power of the will, which is the gear box of actions. When there is fear, man’s rationality is put in play which results in the exercise of the free choice of the will that is embedded to the human nature.

The existence of fear in man also may lead to the acquisition of new knowledge of things which must pass the philosophical investigative techniques which must commence with wondering in total ignorance of the reality before him and that awakes his inquisitiveness which then pushes him to act through inquiry or investigative means at last, gives the result which will also illumine his knowledge of what is before him.

7. Don’t you think that mass communication helps in increasing the fear climax of humanity?

Mass media, which is very influential in our modern day lives, I will say, helps in increasing the fear climax of humanity towards a solution on how to find a new knowledge of things for it is a means of communication that goes far in opening the possible solution of certain things which are problematic to humanity by showing individuals who out of fear, have developed courage that gave solution to problems. The level of fear in humanity which comes from mass communication, can awaken the consciousness in man. For instance, Mass media being a means of dissemination of information to the masses, gives room for suspense in the human person after which many discoveries and existences, are opened up for the education of the people. A perfect Example can be seen on the part of Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr., who out of fear of killing conjoined twins emerged as the first to separate conjoined twins successfully and the best neurosurgeon to carry out neurosurgical procedures on a fetus in the womb, and many other achievements. This was successful due to the existence of fear at its climax which called forth carefulness and devotedness which finally landed to new achievements which through the aide of mass communication, has given a Nigerian like me knowledge of whom Ben Carson is with his discoveries in the medical world.

In the dissemination of information to the masses, I see it that social communication is the best way of managing the fear state of recipients of information because it goes further in preparing, evaluating, validating and editing information given to the masses which also helps in influencing the ways these information are understood, perceived and transmitted for the betterment of the society at large. In this aspect of discussion on the two ways of passing information, I see mass media as a way of passing information to the masses which sometimes may not convey valid information. Rather, social communication is part of mass communication, which focuses on passing edited and verified information to the people with the notion of passing a new knowledge to them. This can also come sometimes as a round table discussion on issues like fear, where all give their ideas on the reality and impact of fear on the society and the way forward. Therefore, social communication should be a better way of managing the fear state of recipients of information. Vested interests in the mass media would argue against social media which is tending to undermine their historical dominance of opinion making.

8. How does fear affect the society man finds himself?

Man was created and was placed in the world and from there is extracted the society. There is fear in the society because of the nature of man for fear is seen in living things with instincts. Man has been seen as carrying out a voyage of discoveries of the meaning behind his existence, and the things around him. Also he has continued to search for the metaphysical things which limit his reasoning, just to make his history complete and this came the existence of fear in man and in the environment where he lives. The world has remained unknown to man in some aspects, despite the millennia of the existence of man which have welcomed several researches and discoveries yet, there are still some parts that are hidden to him. At every point in time in the voyage of man a thing which seems new or strange to him is discovered, there must come to the scene, fear which has the answer to that new discovery for when out of fear, courage and determination emerges, new development emerges also.

9. According to R. Michael Fisher, when one is afraid, the spirit of fearlessness emerges also. How true is this statement?

Fisher’s line of thought is indeed an affirmation of all I have stated. Fear is the giver of courage and can never be negated, and that is the reason why when one’s state of fear reaches the climax or the elastic limit, it takes another shape of fearlessness. In this Fisher’s assertion, the nature of fearlessness lies in the decisive power of the human person which is rooted in his will power and then gives room for new development, which defines the personality of the individual. One’s fearless nature depends on his management of his fearful nature and the procedures he laid out for the discovering of new knowledge of things which posed themselves as hidden realities through the reality of fear which lives in him. In view of that, in every individual, there exist the presence of both fear and fearlessness but the latter occurs only when the former is well managed. Therefore, man is a being of fear and fearlessness.

10. How best can humanity manage fear?

The only thing I can say here with regards to the management of fear by humanity, is that insofar as fear is an emotion in the human person, it should not be allowed to occupy the upper room (reasoning) of an individual which creates unnecessary and excessive phobia in him. An emotion comes and bubbles in the human person at a particular point in time and after which it disappears and also, man has the capability of controlling his emotional responses to things which makes him the master of his own being. Therefore the best management of the existence of this emotion, lies in the ability of man to recognize himself as a determiner of his own actions and emotions by first recognizing that the reality of the existence of fear is to call to his consciousness that he is a living and thinking being and can discover the many realities behind fear by emerging courageous.

11. Do you think that philosophy of Fearism or fearology is going to be relevant to the humanity?

Fearology being a school of thought, that centers its interests, in the study of this human emotion of fear, is very relevant to all humanity. Its relevant nature lies in the very fact that it is a philosophical way of looking into the nature of fear with the rational eyes, which sees not only the nature of fear per se but what lies behind the reality of fear itself. This school of thought having fear as its focus, is indeed relevant to all in the society for it goes further to lay bare, the true knowledge of fear by carrying out several researches on this reality and positing a possible way of educating the general public on how to handle this in our everyday lives.

Fearology should be a welcome means of disseminating information about fear in the society, which ought to be used in all level of education to create awareness about fear. The existence of Fearology in the society should be seen as an answer to the several recordings on the number of people affected by fear which have made everything that is apprehended by them to transfer phobia which for them, is very difficult to handle.