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Friday, July 10. 2015

A Maggie's discussion request: "Care" and "Courage"

There are many common words which, if you drill down into them, you just find turtles all the way down. What are those two things? Are they emotions, instincts, behaviors (ie adjectives turned into nouns), effortful behaviors, or just vague and ambiguous words?


We know that courage, for example, is a word for doing something we feel fearful or anxious about. But what is that?


Your thoughts, please. (And Gwynnie, please do not answer with a simple "Yes.")

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 11:15 | Comments (19) | Trackbacks (0)

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You've got a solid definition of "courage", so how is that vague and ambiguous?

Maybe the words that are vague and ambiguous are "emotion," "instinct," and "effortful behavior."
#1 DrTorch on 2015-07-10 11:26 (Reply)
so they are adjectives or adverbs, not nouns?
#1.1 Bird Dog on 2015-07-10 11:28 (Reply)
My invented word view distinction:
Courage is getting up the guts to do something you don't want to do.
Chutzpah is having the balls to do something you want to do.
#2 Bruce Kesler on 2015-07-10 12:16 (Reply)
courage - doing the right thing when it might hurt. so it's a behavior under certain conditions.

care - the term is vague outside of some context.
#3 Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz on 2015-07-10 12:39 (Reply)
Courage...action in the face of fear
#4 Kevin Bush on 2015-07-10 12:41 (Reply)
Care .. giving help ..or a crap
#5 Kevin Bush on 2015-07-10 12:43 (Reply)
Courage is not so much a virtue in itself as a measurement of how much we value other virtues.
#6 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2015-07-10 12:45 (Reply)
Not trying to be a wise-guy, but why the concern about this?
I am missing the point..
Usually, don't we see them with attached examples, or explanations to expand on the context and clarify the direction of the comments?
#7 Rich on 2015-07-10 13:12 (Reply)
Courage is doing the right thing for the right reason knowing full well you will be punished! Bruce, Donny and the Village Idiot have it right. This is why it is so terrifying to see what is being done to our middle income communities. They are being told to sit quietly by while the mob/liberal mafia/whatever destroys their constitution, their legal system, and their nation. A lack of courage is best demonstrated by the lack of white people demonstrating in the streets!
#8 faculty wife on 2015-07-10 13:30 (Reply)
to be sure, he's the Deputy Village Idiot.
#8.1 Donny "The Bear Jew" Donowitz on 2015-07-10 14:50 (Reply)
Thanks, but those jobs have long waiting lists. I'll be an assistant for years. One has to point out the obvious without fail, and I still fall prey to making things too complicated.
#8.1.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2015-07-10 15:21 (Reply)
Caring... the ability to act on behalf of another in the same way one would act for themselves.
#9 fiftyville on 2015-07-10 14:08 (Reply)
I'd say that courage is the conviction which compels action following realization that living with the inconsistency between the individual's action and his/her ideals is insufferable.
#10 LWS on 2015-07-10 15:38 (Reply)
courage- not knowing what the outcome will be and trying anyway.
care- same as love
#11 scruff on 2015-07-10 15:41 (Reply)
Courage normally isn't courageous without effortful behavior.

Care without effortful behavior is still care or caring but without action it's mostly emotion.
#12 tljhound on 2015-07-10 17:05 (Reply)
There is courage, and then there is valorous courage. They are light years apart.
#13 MissyW on 2015-07-10 17:08 (Reply)
Courage is fear holding on a moment longer. - Patton?
#14 boone on 2015-07-10 21:26 (Reply)
The Duke said "courage is being scared to death , but saddling up anyway" may be apachriphal.
#15 Kiki on 2015-07-10 22:20 (Reply)
The shortest path through the thesaurus from cowardly to courageous is

cowardly
soft
indulgent
gracious
chivalrous
courageous

(If done right, any three in a row mean the same thing but any four do not.)
#16 rhhardin (Link) on 2015-07-11 06:49 (Reply)

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