People that FEAR the FUTURE?

Question

on okcupid, there are questions everyone is supposed to answer as part of their profile. one of the questions is "what do you spend the most time thinking about?" a HUGE number of people put down "the future" as their answer. i don't really relate to that. i mean, sometimes i wonder how things will turn out, but for the most part....i feel like have have steady control of the course of my life and whatever comes at me i'm pretty sure i can handle it. what i DO think about is ways to improve my life NOW so i can reach my maximum potential. i'm big on self help. i feel that i'm a work in progress and i have a fuzzy idea of where i should be, and once i reach that state of balance i will be able to control my future with the choices i make. so i don't understand this fear of the future....people that have this fear seem to also like the movie "lost in translation" and i thought it was alright....but i didn't 100% relate. i relate very well to the movie garden state though. haha, i don't know if that means anything.

Answer 1

Most people do not so much fear or worry about the future as plan for it.

Human behavior is best explained by the goals and results that behavior (thoughts feelings, actions) is aimed at achieving. In therapy, when someone says they did or do something, we ask "And what do you get out of that?" or "What do you expect to get by doing that?"

I speak from the perspective of Adlerian Psychology, one of whose major concepts is "teleology," or goal-orientation.

Dr. Adler spoke of the "psychology of use," which means that what one does is not the result of genes or environment or some cause from the past...it is the desire to reach a certain point in the future, to get a certain pay-off, to achieve a certain goal.

You say you "control my future with the choices I make." Sounds like you are an Adlerian! When people asked him  what was more determining of personality, environment or heredity, he answered "neither...creativity and personal choice are more important than either of those." He called this "soft determinism."

I think you ought to take a look at Adler's ideas...I suspect you'll find that you go along with them! http://www.lifecourseinstitute.com

Dr. Bob, Adlerian Psychologist

Answer 2

The future isn't what it used to be, at least for the USA. Some strategic errors were made, although the BIG ONE, nuclear war with the Soviet Union, was avoided... or now in the guise of Russia.... we hope. The Viet Nam war and the Dictator Dumbya Big Lie Iraqi Crusade, as well as not pursuing energy independence, have sucked the resources that could have made real the visions of Disney in the 1950's, Arthur C Clarke and Bucky Fuller.

It WAS 2000 and were was my flying car???... said Avery Brooks. We can't get one you can afford to drive on the road. Is there a water crisis to come, as is oil, as some now see it?

Answer 3

It's more fear of the unknown than fear of the future...