The Three Laws of Anger

Throughout most of my life, I've noticed that, by far, the most prevalent emotion in the world is anger. The exact reason for this, I'm not sure, but I can pose a few guesses as to why this is the case:

1. Anger is an acceptable emotion for men.

2. When people don't take the time to sort out and properly identify the source of their feelings, it's very easy to default to anger.

3. Anger is useful in that it usually motivates the experiencer to do something (compared to a crippling emotion like depression).

4. Most people are inherently selfish, and, at its core, anger is a selfish emotion (as we will see).

Theory

Now that we have identified the reasons for anger's prevalence, it becomes useful to ask ourselves "What causes feelings of anger?" You may think that the answer to this question is very complicated. If you make the assumption that anger is little more than a self-serving emotion and think of instances in your life where you have viewed anger and try to extrapolate its cause in a general way, you may come up with the same conclusions I have.

There are only three primary causes of anger (these are not mutually exclusive--indeed, there are situations when all three laws are evident):

First Law of Anger: Anger results when any action, or inaction, causes damage to one's self-perception.

Examples: Little Johnny was angry because he got cut from the baseball team (the coach's inaction of picking Johnny for the team caused damage to Johnny's self perception).

Second Law of Anger: Anger results when any action, or inaction, causes someone to have to exert more effort than they would have had to exert otherwise.

Examples: Little Johnny was angry at his father for making him mow the lawn--he wanted to go play whiffle ball with his friends.

Third Law of Anger: Anger results when any action, or inaction, results in someone experiencing physical pain.

Examples: Little Johnny got angry after his dog accidentally bit him while they were playing a bit too roughly.

Example of All Three at Once: While slinging insults at him, Little Johnny's brother threw Johnny's model car at him. The car scratched Johnny's arm before crashing into the floor, scattering into a million pieces on the floor, leaving Johnny a mess to clean up.

Who Cares About This Theory

What was presented above is only a theory, and I have no basis of proving it other than my own perceptions and opinions during my relatively short life. I invite you to observe anger in yourself and others from now on and see how the cause of the anger can fit into one of the three categories above.

After you accept that anger is a self-serving emotion that is always caused by at least one of the three reasons (laws) stated above, it will be easier for you to identify the true source of the anger and resolve it that much quicker.

Challenge

If any person can think of any situation that does not fall into one or more laws, as presented above, or can think of another law that should be added, please contact me and let me hear your thoughts.