Differences of "Hatred" & "Phobia"

Merriam-Webster search describes "Hatred" as "prejudiced hostility or animosity "
Hatred can be seen as a precursor to violence.

Google search describes "Phobia" as "an extreme or irrational fear"
Fear can be seen as a precursor to fleeing.

Now that I sorted both of these very different things out why is it people seem to get it backwards and call people who hate as "phobic" while phobias are fears and hate is very much the opposite of fear? When I hate someone it is because I truly hate them, not because I am afraid of them. It sounds like word trickery, doesn't it? How come they can't get it right? That would be like saying love is hate and someone beat your pet to death because they loved it. Wouldn't that sound plain stupid? I think so. Maybe people are able to get away with reversing the meanings with "Phobia" and "Hate" because "Phobia" is a medical and psychological term and concept and like anything not "laymanish" it can be relegated to obscured and loose usage.

a reply to: Asynchrony

Yet behind every 'hatred' is fear.

Oxford English Dictionary...

Phobia;

An extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something:


Synonyms;

abnormal fear, irrational fear, obsessive fear, fear, dread, horror, terror, dislike, hatred, loathing, detestation, distaste, aversion, antipathy, revulsion, repulsion;
spectre, bugbear, bogey, nightmare, bête noire;
complex, fixation, preoccupation, idée fixe, mania, neurosis, anxiety, obsession





Now that I've shown you they're two exactly the same things why is it that people seem to get it backwards to deny being "phobic"...

How come they can't get it right?

How come you can't get it right?

Except they're not exactly the same. They're synonyms. It means they have similar meanings, but they have very different connotations or shades of meaning.

Basically it's like saying that when I looked up "house" just now in my thesaurus I saw home, residence, castle, mansion and duplex for synonyms among other options and that all those are exactly the same as each other and house. Obviously that's not true. They are very similar but conjure very different mental images.

To me, I would not ever use the two words in the interchangeably.

a reply to: ketsuko

Synonym;
a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language, for example shut is a synonym of close.


We're both right!

When in fear, humans have what is known as a "fight or flight" response. As I see it, hatred is the "fight" response to the fear of a particular thing or person.

a reply to: Krakatoa

Except a phobia is an irrational fear of something. If it were that simple, the hatred would kick in.

I think the two are related but not necessarily causal.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Krakatoa

Except a phobia is an irrational fear of something. If it were that simple, the hatred would kick in.

I think the two are related but not necessarily causal.

Rational or not, fear is fear. The emotion felt is the same...so there should be no surprise the responses are the same.

a reply to: ketsuko

Not always irrational...

As the definition explains...


You can't exactly tell someone with arachnophobia which developed after being bitten by a poisonous spider that their fear is irrational...

It would make it extreme...


Or a fear of Flying...

That's not really irrational...

It may not affect everyone... But irrational doesn't come into it.


If someone has a fear of Polar Bears and lives in a skyrise block in the Bronx...
Or if someone has a fear of Snow & lives in the Desert...
Those are irrational fears.

Well, in my experience, fear results in the impulse to avoid, or deflect, move away, step back, duck etc. Defensive action.

Hatred on the other hand, all I see is red. My only impulse is to lash out, destroy, kill. Offensive action.

Totally different responses to the two in me.

originally posted by: TKDRL
Well, in my experience, fear results in the impulse to avoid, or deflect, move away, step back, duck etc. Defensive action.

Hatred on the other hand, all I see is red. My only impulse is to lash out, destroy, kill. Offensive action.

Totally different responses to the two in me.

So your fight or flight reaction is flight. OK, each person is different. Some will choose to fight in the same fearful situation...and that fight response is to lash out at the fearful....

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

Yes irrational as in fear to the point where you can't control it and it overpowers you. Lots of people have a fear of flying. I am one, but I can control my fear. It does not control me.

Where my fear becomes phobic is when it comes to heights. I get scared enough over heights that simply watching someone I care about near a steep drop will overwhelm me with fear and I can't stand it and have to move to try to intervene in some way by getting them away from the height.

Hatred ... it makes me want to attack in an attempt to physically hurt or kill. There is such a raw depth of loathing that its toxic. I've only felt what I would call actual hatred once in my life and I did move to attack. I'm not proud of it.

As a catch phrase that sounds great but that's not true.

originally posted by: FyreByrd
a reply to: Asynchrony

Yet behind every 'hatred' is fear.

That's another thing I realized. When I get violent it is emotionless. I've seen some fist fights in my time and they were filled with emotion. Violence is a physical motion, not an (e)motion. I suppose some people confuse their feelings with their movements. Since that is widely acceptable it is safe to assume that the majority of people are not wired up correctly.

originally posted by: Krakatoa
When in fear, humans have what is known as a "fight or flight" response. As I see it, hatred is the "fight" response to the fear of a particular thing or person.

EDIT: To add to my reply above I would consider that females are wired psychologically to react and act emotively far more than males (in our species). So I would say that on the women's side a physically violent act would be more likely filled with dramatic emotions than say the physically violent act of a male.

I assume the OP is talking more specifically about phrases such as; Homophobia, or Islamophobia.

If that is the case I think the raw of it is basically a tactic to instill in peoples minds the idea that if you have beef with someones lifestyle or choices, you are essentially a coward, who cannot cope with a changing world.

So in short its just a way for people to get under other peoples skin.

No, I'm not referring to anything specific at all. Generally, in the broad sense, is what I was referring to.


a reply to: Punisher75

It's all based on ignorance and intolerance from all sides.

Sadly, the intolerance typically comes not from an individual's own conclusions but from accepting the opinions of others.

a reply to: Asynchrony

Okie dokie.

Why is it that when someone generally disagrees with something (we all know the primary topics), they're labeled as phobic or haters?

originally posted by: EternalSolace
Why is it that when someone generally disagrees with something (we all know the primary topics), they're labeled as phobic or haters?

Like I said in my earlier post, in my opinion its a tactic to basically call people cowards for not agreeing to something. The people who call others (insert root word here)-phobic knows that the suffix Phobia carries with it the connotation in the modern parlance to mean "scared of" and so its used to try to socially shame people.
Basically its just a rhetorical tool used by people who want to take short cuts in their argument and say "agree with me or you are a coward."