Anger

[Esper]

People say that there aren't bad emotions, just what you do with them. But with anger and angry people I don't know sometimes. Is is a good emotion to feel? Can you really do anything good with it? I feel like it distorts how you see things so even if it motivates you you're not gonna do anything good with it.

Feel free to disagree with me of course.

 

[gimmepie]

I mean, if we have the ability to feel anger then there has to be some evolutionary reason why we developed that capacity I'd say.

I think that whoever said that there are no bad emotions was kind of on the right track though. Not only is anger an extremely good motivator (seriously nothing gets shit done better than wanting to shut someone up) but it also breeds empathy. Anger is not a pleasant emotion to feel, nobody likes to feel angry, so if you've experienced things like anger or sadness in spades yourself you're generally less likely to want other people to feel the same in the long run.

 

[Nah]

I've felt for a while that anger is a largely useless emotion. What does it do to make anything better? What (practical) purpose does feeling anger serve?

not that I'm some fucking serene zen saint who never gets mad tho

 

[Kanzler]

I've felt for a while that anger is a largely useless emotion. What does it do to make anything better? What (practical) purpose does feeling anger serve?

not that I'm some ****ing serene zen saint who never gets mad tho

Anger is the pathway to the dark side. It breeds motivation and passion, a drive for vengeance, and it makes you feel alive. I think it's far worse to be unable to feel anger than it is too be angry. Then, it's like you're too tired, or beyond caring.

 

[Somewhere_]

I agree with Nah and Kanzler. Anger is largely useless and really mostly results in negative effects; however, i think it can be used to drive motivation and passion.

For example, you can be angry at your weight and use this emotion to fuel a healthier lifestyle.

 

[pastelspectre]

I do think anger is a useless emotion, however I still get mad and irritated at the littlest things. It's mostly a negative emotion that I don't understand why we have.

 

[Caite-chan]

To me I see it as two different kinds of angry.

There's the I'm so angry for whatever reason to I'm angry for again whatever reason so now I'm going to go do whatever (workout at the gym.)

And then there is the what I call abusive angry. You're pissed off and someone does something wrong so you go after them. (hitting, road rage) Bat shit crazy angry.

There's nothing wrong with anger as long as you control and/or use that anger in the right way.

 

[Esper]

it also breeds empathy. Anger is not a pleasant emotion to feel, nobody likes to feel angry, so if you've experienced things like anger or sadness in spades yourself you're generally less likely to want other people to feel the same in the long run.

Maybe I'm just wired differently, but this doesn't really make sense to me (unless I'm reading it wrong).

I understand not wanting people to feel angry, but only when it comes to people I already care about., people you already have empathy for. Like, if something makes a total stranger get angry I'm not really going to care one way or the other about it because they're a stranger. I mean, I won't wish it on total strangers or anything, especially for no reason, but if some stranger gets angry I'm only going to care inasmuch as it's going to affect me or people I care about. My own experiences with angry don't really seem like they've made me care more about other people.

 

[gimmepie]

Maybe I'm just wired differently, but this doesn't really make sense to me (unless I'm reading it wrong).

I understand not wanting people to feel angry, but only when it comes to people I already care about., people you already have empathy for. Like, if something makes a total stranger get angry I'm not really going to care one way or the other about it because they're a stranger. I mean, I won't wish it on total strangers or anything, especially for no reason, but if some stranger gets angry I'm only going to care inasmuch as it's going to affect me or people I care about. My own experiences with angry don't really seem like they've made me care more about other people.

You're not wrong, but it's probably a part of why you don't go out of your way to irritate other people and honestly even if you're only really concerned with people you care about this is better than nothing.

 

[MadHatter62]

Anger can clout one's judgement, can hurt those around you along with yourself, and is no fun for the one who is angry. Life's too short to be angry. With that being said, I say anger is bad.

 

[Master of Memes]

Dissapointment is a natural feeling to have. It's natural and okay for us to fight for what's right because it frees us in the end.
Anger isn't emotion it is a poison. Anger leads to corruption of the human mind. It burns through the iron walls of righteous ambition. It will tear you apart in and out.

 

[Linyit]

I'd rather feel disappointed or sad than angry. The only thing I can think of while being angry is vengeance and I know that won't help to solve anything. But its also important to let the emotions out somehow. I do it by going for long walks, those make me relax. So for me anger is a bad emotion to have, but better not suppress it.

 

[Sir Codin]

Anger fuels revolutions, survival, and change. Every single leap forward (and - on a rare occasion - backward) humanity has made has been because someone got angry at the way things were going and decided to do something about it. It's a necessary emotion for when something is threatening you; makes you more motivated to fight back.

People say it distorts people's view of things, but that's really the case for all emotions. That's why the best debates are ones where people leave everything at the door and detach themselves from their humanity for a brief moment. Anger, like all emotions, is irrational and illogical by nature. I think there's no more reason to be happy than there is to be angry, yet I feel both emotions at times anyway. We all do.

I really do not think it's useless. If there wasn't some kind of use for it, it would've been phased out of human consciousness aeons ago.

 

[Nah]

idk if I really buy into the "if it was useless we wouldn't still have it" bit. That would sort of imply that humanity has been always stripping away the unneeded parts and only keeping what is absolutely necessary, as if it was a computer program designed solely to improve itself or something. Clearly that's not the case, as we do a number of not strictly necessary things and are not always completely rational.

I also don't think that you need to feel angry to see that something is a problem and then want to fix it.

 

[Esper]

Every single leap forward (and - on a rare occasion - backward) humanity has made has been because someone got angry at the way things were going and decided to do something about it.

I also don't think that you need to feel angry to see that something is a problem and then want to fix it.

I can see both sides of this, like you can see how people who protest things are often angry and the anger brought them out into the streets, but then you look at people like MLK, who might have been very angry, but you'd never say he acted or looked angry and he was able to accomplish quite a lot considering the circumstances.

 

[Sir Codin]

I also don't think that you need to feel angry to see that something is a problem and then want to fix it.

People who see problems tend to get angry about them though. Some have even argued that anger is a person's way of confirming or recognizing that something even is a problem, though it can also be subjected to cognitive bias.

I really just don't see the point in thinking that anger is any more or less rational than feeling happy. Emotions and logic often don't mix very well, as one thrives on irrationality while the other oft-times doesn't. Hence why we have two categories for them in debates: appeal to pathos and appeal to logos.