Wholeness and Ecosystems: The Functionality of Fear John R. Wood - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Wholeness and Ecosystems: The Functionality of Fear John R. Wood and Darcy Visscher The King’s University July 28, 2018

Outline - What is stress/fear? - Philosophical & theological views - How do communities respond to disturbance? - Fear shapes ecosystems - Terror Management Theory - Functionality of Fear and Death

Familiar Fear “I’m not afraid” “You will be. You will be!” “We have nothing to fear except fear itself” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom”

20 th Century Philosophers on Nature Herman Dooyerweerd

20 th Century Philosophers on Nature Herman Dooyerweerd Francis Schaeffer

Fear, Death and The Wages of Sin The Source of Fear and Death ?

A Sampling of Christian Scholars Re- addressing Death Bernard Ramm (1954) Karl Barth (1956) Robert Farrar Capon (1971) Loren Wilkinson (1976) Paul Saintmire (2000) Ray Anderson (2001) George L. Murphy (2003) Ronald Osborn (2014) D and J Moo (2018)

Current Example of Christian Scholars Re- addressing Death “… the story does not imply that human beings were created immortal.” ************** “The curse … does not seem to represent … some sort of mysterious ontological change in the very makeup of creation itself.” Creation Care: A Biblical Theology of the Natural World Douglas J. Moo and Jonathan A. Moo (2018)

Fear a Pervasive Phenomenon “We eat”, sleep, and breathe fear…can “you imagine living without fear?” NT Wright ( Following Jesus 1994)

Fear a Pervasive Phenomenon “We eat”, sleep, and breathe fear…can “you imagine living without fear?” NT Wright ( Following Jesus 1994) “The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity – designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny of man.” Ernst Becker ( The Denial of Death 1973)

Adaptations to Fear and Predation Depends on Chance and Learning Camouflage Warning Coloration Hiding in Plain Sight And Behavior

Predation and Theories of Ecosystem Development, Stability and Change Top Down & Bottom Keystone Species Up Regulation Robert Paine

Stress Non Lethal (Non-Consumptive) Effects

Cortisol – Good, Bad and Necessary

“" Landscape of Fear” “"Landscape of Stress"

Direct Effects Mortality Scared to death? Indirect Effects Behavior

Nutritional State Reveals Complex Consequences of Risk in a Wild Predator-Prey Community DeWitt, Schuler, Visscher & Thiel (2017)

Nutritional State Reveals Complex Consequences of Risk in a Wild Predator-Prey Community

Nutritional State Reveals Complex Consequences of Risk in a Wild Predator-Prey Community

Ecology and Stress – Fear in Nature Physiology Ecology of Behavior Genetics Stress Evolution Overlap between the ecology of stress and 4 areas of biology ( After Krebs – 2009)

Terror Management Theory William James (19 th Century Philosopher) suggested that death is indeed the worm at the core of the human condition.

Terror Management Theory William James (19 th Century Philosopher) suggested that death is indeed the worm at the core of the human condition. Empirical Research by Solomon, Greenberg and Pyszcynski (2015) Social Psychology

Death influences Experimental Outcomes Death Salience Shapes Attitudes Courtesy Ernst Becker Foundation Symbolism Judgements

Courtesy Ernst Becker Foundation Humor Too! 20 th Century Denial of Death Theory of Mind

From flourishing to redemption & renewal Edward Hicks “Peaceable Kingdom”

Go now in peace Preaching the good news to all creation. Embracing “Sister St Francis of Assisi Death”