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bungula comments on Why do people ____? - Less Wrong
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Why do I fantasize about being angry?
I'm breaking the rule a bit by asking about myself here.
Sometimes when I have down time and am daydreaming, especially if I'm walking somewhere or going for a run, I fantasize about someone wronging me (say with a traffic violation), then imagine myself getting angry, yelling at them, and physically beating them up. I think about knocking them down, screaming at them, challenging them to get up, and knocking them down again.
I've never acted on such a fantasy. I have no idea how to actually fight someone if I wanted to. It's very rare that I show anger, and I don't think I've ever punched someone as an adult. But I think about it pretty regularly, and the thoughts disturb me. I have no idea where they come from or why I take pleasure in these sorts of fantasies.
Is this a common thought pattern? Why do people have it?
It's called Intrusive Thoughts, and apparently most people have these:
I don't think the phenomenon of 'intrusive thoughts' is relevant. Intrusive thoughts feel differently than what Mark is describing. The difference is that intrusive thoughts are 'intrusive', and almost feel like someone else is having them, whereas fantasizing about being angry is more active and more pleasant.
I've had intrusive thoughts too and I've wondered how common they are. Thank you for letting me know that they are something most people experience. I would share some on here, but they're pretty embarrassing.
If these are the "common" ones, then from my experience they're related to what's going on in one's life. By which I mean that I've had similar thoughts, but only during a time when there was a person who I wanted to fight, was afraid of fighting, and couldn't fight, and not any other times.