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David Gorniak

Bar Tender/ Night Porter/ Aspiring Writer/ Part time philosopher,

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The importance of anger.

When was the last time you were really angry? Angry to a degree where you could not help but do something about that which bought you deep dissatisfaction.I believe that there are two types of anger. The first being destructive anger where it is born out of ignorance and exists for the sake of itself. The second being constructive anger where it is born out of an injustice or dissatisfaction and a will to make a change towards a positive.The question is; in today's world of comforts and distractions are we finding constructive anger increasingly harder to maintain? How far do our dissatisfactions and patience have to be pushed for us to be moved? Are we becoming more and more de-sensitized?Without love we are like robots and the same can be said of anger.

Topics: anger drive emotion injustice philosophy sensitivity
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    Mark Kurtz 20+

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    Jun 25 2012: David, you have an excellent topic. It seems there is a huge amount of anger in the world. You even see violence in TV commercials! And violent toys for children!!!!! My observation of self while angry is not an attractive scene. I agree there are two types, as you say. Anger is lack of control and it may be likened to a stone thrown into a beehive. It is destructive of relationships and can result in very bad behavior. We can be fools caused by ourselves.

    Righteous indignation, on the other hand, is really not anger, but a motivating power for change as you say. Such indignation is not without risk of lowering to anger in an emotional situation, but must be controlled to be a power for good.

    Anger can be caused by or the result of mistreatment or abuse during childhood. You probably are aware of causes. However, we have choice: to accept anger and psychological ill health, or to take action to minimize and adopt self control. Self restraint is a big factor in human relationships that are healthy and beneficial to all. Well developed self mastery is formidable evidence of maturity. We can go through life as a child with "temper tantrums" or proceed through the years with confidence and self respect. If we truly desire good relations, then we are likely to find the power within to achieve good self control, regardless of situations and other people. Self respect is not elitist of founded in bragging, but is an achievement of a feeling of worth. It is part of healthy relationships. How can one respect self when subject to one's lack of self control?

    What is the experience of others who may want to contribute here?
    Peace,
    MK

    • David Gorniak

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      Jun 25 2012: Mark, Thanks for the comment. First off i agree with you that anger is a very destructive force and that righteous indignation is a motivational power. On a purely emotional level however righteous indignation can not be labelled as such. Here the drive behind it is still anger. But the trick is to learn to control one's anger and channel it into what you would call righteous indignation. We should not act out in anger but be moved by it to achieve great things. Also anger without love would be purely negative.i would also suggest a difference between hate and anger. Hate is a purely destructive force which can be born out of an uncontrol of anger. But a proper understanding of anger, to use it and again channel it into a controlled righteous indignation can lead to tremendous things. But remember righteous indignation is still born of that basic human emotion that is anger. Finally i would like to say that be it love or anger, these natural feelings are the biggest emotional drives and the worry for me is that we in the western world with all our technology, comforts and distractions, are forgetting or at least subduing those emotions to a level where we become like robots.So maybe it is not only the subduing of anger that can be utilized in a positive way that is up for debate but also the subduing of love.I hope i have been clear in my answer,all the best.

    • David Gorniak

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      Jun 25 2012: p.s. i am not talking about naturaly angry people from long term causes and damaged psychology. It's more to to do with emotionally balanced people that i have in mind.
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      Frank Clayton

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      Jul 9 2012: I respectfully disagree with your comment that "anger is a lack of control". In my opinion anger is a natural emotion. Rather than "shoulding" on this emotion, I believe we should listen to it and attempt to understand where it derives from that we may better understand ourselves. I understand what you mean when you say that it is difficult to watch a scene in which someone is expressing anger. I can also tell you that as a therapist I have had many people end up on my couch because they did not acknowledge their true feelings - especially men. I have heard it said that anger is depression turned inward. I have found that removing the shame from anger and allowing a person to express it in a healthy manner frees them of guilt, allows them to recognize and deal with the real issue and ultimately helps them themselves wholly.

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