A scared child shows fear in an uncertain environment.

Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger. Fear is apparently a universal emotion; all persons, consciously or unconsciously, have fear in some sort.^[1] In short, fear is the ability to recognize danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it (also known as the fight-or-flight response) but in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) a freeze or paralysis response is possible."Fear is the basic condition ... the job that we're here to do is to learn how to live in a way that we're not terrified all the time."- Luc Sante "The Heroic Nerd", 2006.^[2] Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that fear belongs to a small set of basic or innate emotions. This set also includes such emotions as joy, sadness, and anger. Fear should be distinguished from the related emotional state of anxiety, which typically occurs without any certain or immediate external threat.

Additionally, fear is frequently related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.^[3] It is worth noting that fear almost always relates to future events, such as worsening of a situation, or continuation of a situation that is unacceptable. Fear can also be an instant reaction to something presently happening. All people have an instinctual response to potential danger. This emotion is described as fear and is inherent in all people.^[4] Fear, whatever its source, can become a controlling factor in a person’s life.^[5] Fear can channel one’s energies away from areas of perceived threats and into directions that seem safe.^[6]

Common fears[link]

According to surveys, some of the most common fears are of ghosts, the existence of evil powers, cockroaches, spiders, snakes, heights, water, enclosed spaces, tunnels, bridges, needles, social rejection, failure, examinations and public speaking. A person may also be apprehensive and having second thoughts about committing suicide. In an innovative test of what people fear the most, Bill Tancer analyzed the most frequent online search queries that involved the phrase, "fear of...". This follows the assumption that people tend to seek information on the issues that concern them the most. His top ten list of fears consisted of flying, heights, clowns, intimacy, death, rejection, people, snakes, failure, and driving.^[7]

One of the most common fears is the fear of public speaking. People may be comfortable speaking inside a room but when it becomes public speaking, fear enters in the form of suspicion that whether the words uttered are correct or incorrect because there are many to judge it. Another common fear can be of pain, or of someone damaging a person. Fear of pain in a plausible situation brings flinching, or cringing.

In a 2005 Gallup poll (U.S.A.), a national sample of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 15 were asked what they feared the most. The question was open ended and participants were able to say whatever they wanted. The top ten fears were, in order: terrorist attacks, spiders, death, being a failure, war, heights, criminal or gang violence, being alone, the future, and nuclear war.^[8]

Fear of the unknown[link]

Attempting something new can be risky and can therefore be a potential source of stress.^[9] For example, a high school teacher that moves up to become a professor may be fearful of all the new things that are now required of him/her. They may see the "safest" parts of a university environment as the teacher and service aspects. The research component that comes with being a professor will be completely new to them and thus they may be overwhelmed by it and become "fearful" of it. ^[10]

Causes[link]

Acrophobia

Though most arachnids are harmless, a person with arachnophobia may still panic or feel uneasy around one. Sometimes, even an object resembling a spider can trigger a panic attack in an arachnophobic individual. The above cartoon is a depiction of the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet", in which the title character is "frightened away" by a spider.

People develop specific fears as a result of learning. This has been studied in psychology as fear conditioning, beginning with John B. Watson's Little Albert experiment in 1920, which was inspired after observing a child with an irrational fear of dogs.^[11] In this study, an 11-month-old boy was conditioned to fear a white rat in the laboratory. The fear became generalized to include other white, furry objects, such as a rabbit, dog, and even a ball of cotton.^[11] In the real world, fear can be acquired by a frightening traumatic accident. For example, if a child falls into a well and struggles to get out, he or she may develop a fear of wells, heights (acrophobia), enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), or water (aquaphobia). There are studies looking at areas of the brain that are affected in relation to fear. When looking at these areas (amygdala), it was proposed that a person learns to fear regardless of whether they themselves have experienced trauma, or if they have observed the fear in others. In a study completed by Andreas Olsson, Katherine I. Nearing and Elizabeth A. Phelps the amygdala were affected both when subjects observed someone else being submitted to an aversive event, knowing that the same treatment awaited themselves, and when subjects were subsequently placed in a fear-provoking situation.^[12] This suggests that fear can develop in both conditions, not just simply from personal history.

The experience of fear is affected by historical and cultural influences. For example, in the early 20th century, many Americans feared polio, a disease that cripples the body part it affects, leaving that body part immobilized for the rest of one's life. There are also consistent cross-cultural differences in how people respond to fear. Display rules affect how likely people are to show the facial expression of fear and other emotions.

Although fear is learned, the capacity to fear is part of human nature. Many studies have found that certain fears (e.g. animals, heights) are much more common than others (e.g. flowers, clouds). These fears are also easier to induce in the laboratory. This phenomenon is known as preparedness. Because early humans that were quick to fear dangerous situations were more likely to survive and reproduce, preparedness is theorized to be a genetic effect that is the result of natural selection.

From an evolutionary psychology perspective, different fears may be different adaptations that have been useful in our evolutionary past. They may have developed during different time periods. Some fears, such as fear of heights, may be common to all mammals and developed during the mesozoic period. Other fears, such as fear of snakes, may be common to all simians and developed during the cenozoic time period. Still others, such as fear of mice and insects, may be unique to humans and developed during the paleolithic and neolithic time periods (when mice and insects become important carriers of infectious diseases and harmful for crops and stored foods).^[13]

Fear is high only if the observed risk and seriousness both are high and is low if one or the other of the seen risk or seriousness is low.^[14]

Diagnosing Fear[link]

Fear can affect us on our daily lives if it gets out of control in one's consciousness. Anxiety-it's what is known as future-oriented fear because we cannot control what will happen next. Panic- When one is intimidated of a certain thing that reminds them of their fear, and experiencing an alarm response.^[15] There can be many physiological changes in the body associated with fear, these changes can be summarized by the "fight or flight" response. This is our innate response for coping with danger, it works by accelerating the heart rate, dilating the blood vessels, increasing muscle tension and breathing rate. As the name suggests, this primitive mechanism helps an organism survive by either running away or fight off the danger. After the series of physiological changes, only then does the consciousness realize an emotion of fear. ^[16]

The absence of fear[link]

Although fear is one of the crucial evolutionary mechanisms for individual survival, in certain situations psychologically normal humans can behave without feeling fear, with a total neglect of potentially lethal risk. A classical situation is when a child is attacked by a predatory animal (or an armed human), and a parent starts an all-out fight against the much stronger attacker, totally neglecting his or her personal safety. This mechanism is present among many species, most notably when a mother behaves fearlessly towards much stronger opposition in order to save her offspring. Jordania uses the term aphobia for the temporary loss of fear, induced by the release of neurochemicals in the brain which leads to a specific altered state of consciousness. Jordania calls this state the battle trance.^[17] According to him, aphobia supersedes the individual's instinctive fear for selfish survival and well-being, when more evolutionarily important subjects than that individual's own life are in danger. These can be the life of a child, family members, or members of a soldier's unit. Sometimes saving unknown humans or animals can also trigger the temporary loss of fear. Strong religious feelings can also induce aphobia (for example, when martyrs sacrifice themselves without the feeling of fear or pain). Jordania suggested that battle trance and associated loss of fear and pain (known as analgesia) were designed in the course of evolution by forces of natural selection as a survival mechanism, as individual hominids were too weak to stand against the formidable African ground predators after they descended from the relatively safe trees to the ground. The state of battle trance, which can be induced by rhythmic drumming, singing, dancing, body painting, and the use of certain substances, allowed them to lose their individuality, obtain collective identity, and to fight together as a unit without feeling fear and pain, neglecting their personal safety for the evolutionarily more important reason. Unlike the feel of pain, which can be fully absent in some human conditions, there is no such condition as congenital absence of fear (although psychopaths are known to have a much lessened feeling of fear).^[18]

Fears in culture[link]

The awareness of the end and its existence is in other words the fear of death. The fear of death ritualized the lives of our ancestors. These rituals were designed to reduce that fear; they helped collect the cultural ideas that we now have in the present. These rituals also helped preserve the cultural ideas. The results and methods of human existence had been changing at the same time that social formation was changing. One can say that the formation of communities happened because people lived in fear. The result of this fear forced people to unite to fight dangers together rather than fight alone.

If one were to look into religion, they would find that it is filled with different fears that humans have had throughout many centuries. The fears don’t just go on the metaphysical levels (including the problems of life and death) but move onto moral dimensions as well. Death was a boundary to people that is seen as a transition to another world. This world would always be different depending on how each individual lived their lives. The origin of this intangible fear comes from other sources that are not found in the present world. In a sense we can assume that fear was a big influence on things such as morality.

Our fears are portrayed through sources such as books, movies. For example, many horror movies and books include characters who fear the antagonist of the plot. Fear is also found in mythological folklore and folklore superstitions. One of the important characteristics of historical and mythical heroes across the cultures is to be fearless in the face of big and often lethal danger.

Suppression of amygdala activity can also be achieved by pathogens. Rats infected with the toxoplasmosis parasite become less fearful of cats, sometimes even seeking out their urine-marked areas. This behavior often leads to them being eaten by cats. The parasite then reproduces within the body of the cat. There is evidence that the parasite concentrates itself in the amygdala of infected rats.^[19] In a separate experiment, rats with lesions in the amygdala did not express fear or anxiety towards unwanted stimuli. These rats pulled on levers supplying food that sometimes sent out electrical shocks. While they learned to avoid pressing on them, they did not distance themselves away from these shock-inducing levers.^[20]

Several brain structures other than the amygdala have also been observed to be activated when individuals are presented with fearful vs. neutral faces, namely the occipitocerebellar regions including the fusiform gyrus and the inferior parietal / superior temporal gyri.^[21] Interestingly, fearful eyes, brows and mouth seem to separately reproduce these brain responses.^[21] Scientist from Zurich studies show that the hormone oxytocin related to stress and sex reduces activity in your brain fear center^[22] Process of fear -The thalamus collects sensory data from the senses -Sensory cortex receives data from thalamus and interprets it -Sensory cortex organizes information for dissemination to hypothalamus (fight or flight), amygdala (fear), hippocampus (memory)

Fear of death[link]

Psychologists have addressed the hypothesis that fear of death motivates religious commitment, and that it may be alleviated by assurances about an afterlife. Empirical research on this topic has been equivocal.^{[citation needed]} According to Kahoe and Dunn, people who are most firm in their faith and attend religious services weekly are the least afraid of dying. A survey of people in various Christian denominations showed a negative correlation between fear of death and religious concern.^[23]

In another study, data from a sample of white, Christian men and women were used to test the hypothesis that traditional, church-centered religiousness and de-institutionalized spiritual seeking are distinct ways of approaching fear of death in old age. Both religiousness and spirituality were related to positive psychosocial functioning, but only church-centered religiousness protected subjects against the fear of death.^[24]

Fear of death is also known as death anxiety. This may be a more accurate label because, like other anxieties, the emotional state in question is long lasting and not typically linked to a specific stimulus. The analysis of fear of death, death anxiety, and concerns over mortality is an important feature of existentialism and terror management theory. Fear of death most likely has its roots in fear of the unknown, as what happens beyond cannot be proven by those still living.^[25]

Fear of death is also known as Thanatophobia.^[25]

One famous psychological theory of this topic is Terror Management Theory. More details in http://www.psych-it.com.au/Psychlopedia/article.asp?id=74

Shelly Kagan exames the philosophical background of whether fear of death make sense (not about the actual kind of emotional reaction). In this context he states in one of his lectures, that there are certain conditions to fear in general to make sense:^[26]

• fear requires something bad, as the object of fear and
• there's got to be a nonnegligible chance of the bad state of affairs happening

See also[link]

References[link]

• Hinton, D. E., Lewis-Fernadex, R., and Pollack, M. H.. (2009). A Model of the Generation of Ataque de Nervios: The Role of Fear of Negative Affect and Fear of Arousal Symptoms. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics. 15(3): 264-275.
• Mears, D. P. and Stewart, E. A.. (2010). Interracial Contact and Fear of Crime. Journal of Criminal Justice. 38(1): 34-41.
• Sanders, M. J., Stevens, S. and Boeh, H.. (2010). Stress Enhancement of Fear Learning in Mice is Dependent Upon Stressor Type: Effects of Sex and Ovarian Hormones. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. 94(2): 254-262.
• Burton, L. D. Fear. Journal of Research on Christian Education v. 20 no. 2 (May 2011) p. 113-16

Gower, Paul L. (2004). Psychology of Fear. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.. p. 24. </ref>

• Burnham, W. H. (1932). Fear and the personality. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/psycinfo/docview/621159734/135B01017AB9E3D43A/8?accountid=14771
• Burton, L. D. (2011, July 28). Fear. Retrieved from http://simplelink.library.utoronto.ca/url.cfm/264569
• Matthews, A. (2012, Winter). Fear. Retrieved from http://simplelink.library.utoronto.ca/url.cfm/264575
• Bryner, J. (2006, October 23). Fear factors. Retrieved from http://simplelink.library.utoronto.ca/url.cfm/264578
• Bellows, A. (2008). Doctor Watson's Phobia Factory. Damn Interesting. Retrieved from http://www.damninteresting.com/doctor-watsons-phobia-factory/

Further reading[link]

• Bourke, Joanna (2005). Fear: a cultural history. Virago. ISBN 1-59376-113-9. 
• Robin, Corey (2004). Fear: the history of a political idea. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515702-8. 
• Duenwald, Mary (January 2005). "The Physiology of ... Facial Expressions". Discover 26 (1). http://discovermagazine.com/2005/jan/physiology-of-facial-expressions/?searchterm=duenwald. 
• Gardner, Dan (2008). Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear. Random House, Inc. ISBN 0-7710-3299-4. 
• Jiddu, Krishnamurti (1995). On Fear. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-251014-2. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Fear

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fear

Look up fear in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Traversing the realm of Fear
• How Stuff Works – Fear
• The Scent of Fear, a Research Study
• Catholic Encyclopedia "Fear (from a Moral Standpoint)"
• Lecture 22 - Fear of Death – Open Yale Courses lecture by Shelly Kagan

v t e Emotions (list) Emotions Adoration Affection Agony Awe Amusement Anger Anguish Annoyance Anxiety Arousal Attraction Caring Compassion Contempt Contentment Defeat Dejection Depression Desire Despair Disappointment Disgust Ecstasy Embarrassment Empathy Enthrallment Enthusiasm Envy Euphoria Excitement Fear Frustration Grief Guilt Happiness Hatred Homesickness Hope Horror Hostility Humiliation Hysteria Infatuation Insecurity Insult Interest Irritation Isolation Jealousy Loneliness Longing Love Lust Melancholy Neglect Optimism Panic Passion Pity Pleasure Pride Rage Regret Rejection Remorse Resentment Sadness Sentimentality Shame Shock Sorrow Spite Suffering Surprise Sympathy Tenseness Thrill Revenge Wonder Worry Diligence Zest Worldviews Compatibilism Existentialism Fatalism Incompatibilism Metaphysics Nihilism Optimism Pessimism Reclusion Social justice Weltschmerz Source: Parrott, W. (2001), Emotions in Social Psychology, Psychology Press, Philadelphia.

Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian performing in Burgas, Bulgaria in August 2010.
Background information
Native name	Սերժ Թանգեան
Birth name	Serj Tankian
Born	(1967-08-21) August 21, 1967 (age 44) Beirut, Lebanon[1]
Genres	Heavy metal, experimental, alternative metal, progressive rock, alternative rock, art rock, classical
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, poet, political activist
Instruments	Vocal, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, sampler, theremin, guitar, bass guitar, violin, harmonica, melodica, bouzouki, dulcimer[disambiguation needed ], drums
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Serjical Strike, Reprise, American, Columbia, Axis of Justice
Associated acts	System of a Down, Axis of Justice, The F.C.C.
Website	www.serjtankian.com

Serj Tankian (Western Armenian: Սերժ Թանգեան [ˈsɛɾʒ tʰɑnˈkʰjɑn]; born August 21, 1967) is a Lebanese-born Armenian-American singer–songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, playwright, record producer, poet, and political activist. He is best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional live rhythm guitarist of the rock band System of a Down.

During his musical career, Tankian has released five albums with System of a Down, one with Arto Tunçboyacıyan (Serart), as well as three solo albums Elect the Dead, Imperfect Harmonies and Harakiri. A live orchestral version of Elect the Dead incorporating the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra named Elect the Dead Symphony was released. In 2002, Tankian and Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello co-founded a non-profit political activist organization, Axis of Justice. Tankian also founded the music label Serjical Strike Records.

Tankian is ranked 26th in the Hit Parader's Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time.

On August 12, 2011, Tankian was awarded the Armenian Prime Minister's Medal for his contributions to the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the advancement of music.^[2]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Tankian was born in Beirut, Lebanon on August 21, 1967.^[3] At age seven, Serj Tankian moved with his parents to Los Angeles, California.^[3] In his youth, he attended a school for Armenian-Americans, Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School,^[4] which was also attended by Tankian's future System of a Down bandmates Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian.^[5] Tankian was accepted into California State University, Northridge. This is where Tankian first began to play instruments and write songs.^[3]

Soil and System of a Down (1994–2006)[link]

The early beginnings of System of a Down lie in a band named Soil (not to be confused with the Chicago-based band SOiL) with Tankian on vocals & keyboards, Daron Malakian on vocals & lead guitar, Dave Hakopyan on bass and Domingo Loranio on drums. The band hired Shavo Odadjian as their then-manager but for him to later join as rhythm guitarist. Loriano and Hakopyan later left the band feeling that it wasn't going anywhere, leading to Soil splitting up.

After Soil split up, Tankian, Odadjian and Malakian formed a new band they called System of a Down, after a poem Malakian wrote called Victims of a Down. Their original drummer was Ontronik Khachaturian, with whom they had spent time playing with in Soil, though he was later replaced by John Dolmayan after breaking his hand shortly before a gig the band had been booked to play, giving Dolmayan the last-minute call up. The band quickly began touring the Southern California rock clubs, and began to attract a strong following.

[edit] Elect the Dead (2007–2010)

Tankian's breakthrough as a solo artist came with the release of his debut record Elect the Dead. The first singles from Elect the Dead are "The Unthinking Majority" and "Empty Walls". The music video "Feed Us" was released on the Swedish^[6] and UK^[7] MTV. Tankian appeared on MTV's You Rock The Deuce to promote Elect the Dead.^{[citation needed]} A music video was directed and filmed for every song on the record, each by unique directors. Tankian explained, "I asked each of the directors for their visual interpretation of my work. They were asked not to write treatments and that they could make whatever they liked. The results have been overwhelmingly amazing!"^[8] Some music videos were initially released exclusively to those who purchased the limited edition of Elect the Dead, while all of the music videos, except "Money", have since been publicly released on Tankian's website and YouTube channel. Some videos have alternative versions which were originally released as well, but later altered.^{[citation needed]}

Three different promo versions of the album have surfaced to the public. The instrumental promotional version, issued by Serjical Strike/Reprise Records and intended for the music and movie industry, contains instrumental versions of the twelve album tracks. Another promotional version, issued by Reprise Records and made only for individual reviewers, features the album in final master form. This promotional CD-R, which was labeled "Smart Talk" as a codename for "Serj Tankian" to prevent leaking by unauthorized persons, also indicates that the album was finalized prior to August 20, 2007 (2007-08-20).^[9] Before this a similar but undated promo, also under the name 'Smart Talk', was issued featuring the final versions of the songs, albeit not yet mastered.^{[citation needed]} Whilst the printed track list on this version is identical the released album, tracks ten and eleven are in fact juxtaposed on the promo itself.

The official tour for Elect the Dead commenced on October 12, 2007 with a show at Chicago's Vic theater. Roughly one thousand people attended the first concert. Although Tankian had stated he would not be performing any material by his former band, System of a Down, he performed "Charades" and "Blue", songs co-written by Daron Malakian, the guitarist of System of a Down. "Blue" had previously appeared on their Fourth Demo Tape in 1998, and Charades was attempted during the 2005 Mezmerize/Hypnotize sessions, but never released (although a short video clip of Tankian and Dolmayan playing the song in a recording studio was featured on "the Making of Mezmerize/Hypnotize"). Although it is originally a song restricted to piano and vocals, Tankian used his backing band, the Flying Cunts of Chaos (F.C.C.), to provide guitars, drums, and bass.^{[citation needed]} The songs "Beethoven's Cunt", Empty Walls, and Sky Is Over are available as downloadable content for Rock Band. A portion of the song "Lie Lie Lie" is currently featured in the opening title sequence of NBC's Fear Itself, a horror anthology show from the creators of Masters of Horror, and can be viewed on the show's main website.^{[citation needed]}

More recently, he sang with Les Rita Mitsouko on the song "Terminal Beauty". Also, he sang with the band Fair to Midland during a live improvisational version of their song "Walls of Jericho", from the album Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True, which was a massive hit with fans. He often collaborates with his close friend, director Diran Noubar on various projects, including the voice-over of Noubar's Armenia, a Country Under Blockade. Noubar played some guitar on Tankian's Elect the Dead album on the track "Saving Us" and directed the music video for "Baby".

Serj Tankian performing in 2005

Tankian is also politically involved. Together with Tom Morello, he founded the organization Axis of Justice. Tankian is a New Zealand resident and has a secondary vacation dwelling there.^[10] There has been a misconception that he intends to stay in New Zealand until the Iraq War is over, but as stated in an interview, Tankian has no intention of doing so. He often speaks publicly against violence and injustice in the world. Tankian released a new song "Fears" in November 2008 exclusively in support of Amnesty International's Global Write-A-Thon.^[11]

On March 16, 2009, Serj performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in New Zealand, an orchestral version of the album Elect the Dead. The live performance was captured in a CD/DVD titled Elect the Dead Symphony which was released on March 9, 2010.

Tankian co-wrote a musical with the American playwright Steven Sater. It is based on the Ancient Greek tragedy Prometheus Bound. It will open at the American Repertory Theater on March 14, 2011.^[12][13]

In 2009, Tankian collaborated with the band Viza (previously known as Visa) for their track "Viktor".^[14] Viza is signed to Tankian's Serjical Strike label.

On February 15, 2010, Serj Tankian released a new single, "The Charade". The song is available as a digital download on iTunes.

[edit] Imperfect Harmonies (2010–2012)

Tankian's second solo album was originally due in 2009. It is said to be more of a jazz and orchestral based sound. Said Tankian of the second album, "I'm structuring the next record kind of like a jazz orchestral. I've got a full orchestra interested, so I want this giant electric guitar in the air to be played by a full orchestra. I want the orchestra to be the electric guitar. I want to make an orchestra do what it's never done before, like a GG Allin type orchestra. Think of that."^[15] The album had the working title Music Without Borders, however, the final album title is Imperfect Harmonies. On June 23, 2010, a promo single from his upcoming album Imperfect Harmonies was released called "Borders Are". The first radio single from Imperfect Harmonies, "Left Of Center", was released on July 13, 2010. A third single, "Disowned Inc." was released on August 9, 2010. Imperfect Harmonies was released on September 21, 2010. Preceding the album's release, two contests were announced (one consisting of brainteasers related to the album/song titles, the other an art contest) in which fans could win prizes such as Tankian's autograph and merchandise. On August 22, 2010, a music video for Left Of Center was released on Tankian's MySpace account.

The premiere date for Tankian and Sater's Prometheus Bound at the American Repertory Theater is February 25, 2011. The singer has said that collaborating on the show has been a great learning experience for him. "I’ve been using a lot of my archives, a lot of different types of music that I had already put together for underscoring and what not," he said. "It’s quite diverse, from noise to jazz to electronic stuff to hip-hop songs to rock songs to cool, piano dark underscores, and that’s a whole different bag of tricks there because it’s always evolving. Unlike a film score that’s very linear and you get a scene to score for, this is something where you do another workshop and one song is gone, that underscore changes to 20 seconds and they need something else on the spot. Everything’s always changing until the show comes, so it’s quite interesting."^[16]

In January 2011 Tankian released a music video for his song Reconstructive Demonstrations from his album Imperfect Harmonies. Tankian also announced on his Facebook page, during the video's release, that a new EP entitled Imperfect Remixes would be released sometime within 2011. On February 3, Serj uploaded a photo of him singing into a microphone onto his Facebook fan page, accompanied with the description "New music video coming soon..." On March 1, Serj released Imperfect Remixes and the music video for Goodbye, a remix of Gate 21 from Imperfect Harmonies.

[edit] System of a Down reunion and Harakiri (2011-Future)

On November 29, 2010, following several weeks of internet rumors, System of a Down officially announced that they will play shows in Europe during Festivals and in North America, mostly in US. Dates are between May and July 2011.^[17] Among the announced tour dates included UK's Download Festival, Switzerland's Greenfield Festival, Germany's Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Sweden's Metaltown, Austria's Nova Rock Festival and Finland's Provinssirock. The band gave a single concert in Olympic Sports Complex of Moscow in June 2011.^[18] In their reunion statement posted on their website, the band was unclear as to the extent of their reformation. It read, "We have no master plan of sorts—we are playing these shows simply because we want to play together again as a band and for you, our amazing fans."^[19] Dates have been announced in the official System of a Down website.

In early July 2011, Serj posted a video on YouTube showing two samples of new songs. During the video he said "next year". In multiple interviews he has stated that he has been working on a Rock record that will be released in 2011, and some side projects including jazz, electronic, and symphonic records. John Dolmayan has also confirmed the solo album, as well as confirmed that a new System album will be made^{[citation needed]}, but not for at least a year. This is due to Serj being in New Zealand as well as touring for his new album in 2012. It has been confirmed that his newest album is named Harakiri and will be released on July 10, 2012. This will be the first of 4 new albums to be released in the near future.^[20] The first single from this album is called "Figure It Out" and was released on May 1st. ^[21] Song has later appeared on Serj Tankian official YouTube channel. On May 30th, 2012, is announced that "Cornucopia" will be the second single taken from Harakiri and it will be released on June 12th.

Animal rights[link]

Tankian has taken a stance supporting animal rights. He also has become a vegetarian who has strong feelings against the establishment of industrial slaughterhouses. In an interview with PETA, he claimed his change was due to "touring and its variety of edible crap," and also he felt it was "instinctive somewhat." Furthermore, he also feels the need for respect towards 'mother earth'.^[22]

In July 2009, Serj signed a PETA petition against the slaughtering methods of chickens in KFC slaughterhouses.^[23]

The F.C.C.[link]

The F.C.C. (Flying Cunts of Chaos) was Serj's backing band when he played live up until 2009.^[24]

Final line-up

• Mario Pagliarulo  – bass, vocals
• Erwin Khachikian  – keyboards, piano, synthesizers, vocals
• Troy Zeigler  – drums, vocals
• Dan Monti  – guitar, vocals
• Jeff Mallow  – guitar, vocals (2008–present)

Past members

• Larry "Ler" LaLonde  – guitar, vocals (2007–2008)

Discography[link]

Solo

• Elect the Dead (2007)
• Imperfect Harmonies (2010)
• Harakiri (2012)
• Orca

With System of a Down

• System of a Down (1998)
• Toxicity (2001)
• Steal This Album! (2002)
• Mezmerize (2005)
• Hypnotize (2005)

With Serart

• Serart (2003)

With Buckethead and various artists

• Enter The Chicken (2005)
• Profanation (Preparation for a Coming Darkness) (2008)

With Tony Iommi

• Iommi (2000)

With Wyclef Jean

• Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant (2007)

Bibliography[link]

• Cool Gardens, 2001, MTV Books
• Glaring Through Oblivion, 2011, It Books ^[25]

Awards and nominations[link]

System of a Down has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, of which has won one in 2006 for Best Hard Rock Performance for the song B.Y.O.B.. The band has also been nominated for several Kerrang! and MTV awards.

Grammy Awards

General

• In 2005, System of a Down won for Best Alternative Act in the Europe Music Awards
• In 2006, System of a Down won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!"
• In 2006, System of a Down's song "Toxicity" was #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs List

References[link]

External links[link]

• Serj Tankian's official website
• Serjical Strike official website
• Brazilian Fan Site
• System of a Down's official website
• Serj Tankian at the Internet Movie Database

Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tyson at the NASA Advisory Council in Washington, D.C., November 2005
Born	(1958-10-05) October 5, 1958 (age 53) Manhattan, New York City, United States[1]
Residence	Manhattan, New York City, United States
Fields	Astrophysics, physical cosmology, science communication
Institutions	Hayden Planetarium, PBS, Planetary Society
Alma mater	Harvard University (AB) University of Texas at Austin (MA) Columbia University (MPhil, PhD)
Influences	Issac Newton, Carl Sagan, Fred C. Hess
Notable awards	NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal

Neil deGrasse Tyson ( /ˈniːəl dəˈɡræs ˈtaɪsən/ born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysicist and science communicator. He is currently the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and a research associate in the department of astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. Since 2006 he has hosted the educational science television show NOVA scienceNOW on PBS, and has been a frequent guest on The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Real Time with Bill Maher, and Jeopardy!. It was announced on August 5, 2011, that Tyson will be hosting a new sequel to Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage television series.^[2]

Early life[link]

Tyson was born as the second of three children in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, but was raised in the Bronx.^[1] His mother, Sunchita Feliciano Tyson, was a gerontologist and his father, Cyril deGrasse Tyson, was a sociologist, human resource commissioner for the New York City mayor, John Lindsay, and was the first Director of HARYOU.^[3][4] Tyson attended the Bronx High School of Science (1972–1976, astrophysics emphasis) where he was captain of the wrestling team and was editor-in-chief of the school's Physical Science Journal. Tyson had an abiding interest in astronomy from the age of eleven, following his visit to the Hayden Planetarium at age nine. Tyson recalls that "so strong was that imprint [of the night sky] that I'm certain that I had no choice in the matter, that in fact, the universe called me."^[5] He obsessively studied astronomy in his teens, and eventually even gained some fame in the astronomy community by giving lectures on the subject at the age of fifteen.

Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies.^[6] During an interview with writer Daniel Simone,^[7] Tyson said, "Interestingly, when I applied to Cornell, my application dripped of my passion for the study and research of the Universe. Somehow the admissions office brought my application to the attention of the late Dr. Sagan, and he actually took the initiative and care to contact me. He was very inspirational and a most powerful influence. Dr. Sagan was as great as the universe, an effective mentor." Tyson chose to attend Harvard University, however, where he majored in physics and lived in Currier House. He was a member of the crew team during his freshman year, but returned to wrestling, eventually lettering in his senior year. Tyson earned a bachelor of arts in physics from Harvard in 1980 and began his graduate work at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a master of arts in astronomy in 1983. In addition to wrestling and rowing in college, he was also active in dancing in styles including jazz, ballet, Afro-Caribbean, and Latin Ballroom. In 1985, he won a gold medal with the University of Texas dance team at a national tournament in the International Latin Ballroom style. He started to work toward a doctorate at the University of Texas, but transferred to Columbia University in 1988 after his committee was dissolved.^[8] At Columbia University, in 1989, he received a master of philosophy in astrophysics and, in 1991, he earned a doctor of philosophy in astrophysics.

Career[link]

Tyson with students at the 2007 American Astronomical Society conference

Tyson's research has focused on observations in stellar formation and evolution as well as cosmology and galactic astronomy. He has held numerous positions at institutions including University of Maryland, Princeton University, the American Museum of Natural History, and Hayden Planetarium.

Tyson has written a number of popular books on astronomy. In 1995, he began to write the "Universe" column for Natural History magazine. In a column he authored for the magazine in 2002, Tyson coined the term "Manhattanhenge" to describe the two days annually on which the evening sun aligns with the cross streets of the street grid in Manhattan, making the sunset visible along unobstructed side streets.

In 2001, President George W. Bush appointed Tyson to serve on the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry and in 2004 to serve on the President's Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy, the latter better known as the "Moon, Mars, and Beyond" commission. Soon afterward he was awarded the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by NASA.^[9]

In 2004, he hosted the four-part "Origins" miniseries of PBS's Nova,^[10] and, with Donald Goldsmith, co-authored the companion volume for this series, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution.^[11] He again collaborated with Goldsmith as the narrator on the documentary 400 Years of the Telescope which premiered on PBS in April 2009.

Tyson in December 2011 at a conference marking 1,000 days after the launch of the spacecraft Kepler

As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Tyson bucked traditional thinking in order to keep Pluto from being referred to as the ninth planet in exhibits at the center. Tyson has explained that he wanted to look at commonalities between objects, grouping the terrestrial planets together, the gas giants together, and Pluto with like objects and to get away from simply counting the planets. He has stated on The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, and BBC Horizon that this decision has resulted in large amounts of hate mail, much of it from children.^[12] In 2006, the I.A.U. confirmed this assessment by changing Pluto to the "dwarf planet" classification. Daniel Simone wrote of the interview with Tyson describing his frustration. "For a while, we were not very popular here at the Hayden Planetarium."

Tyson has been vice-president, president, and chairman of the board of the Planetary Society. He is also the host of the PBS program Nova ScienceNow.^[13] He attended and was a speaker at the Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival symposium on November 2006. In 2007, Tyson, who is known for his vibrant character, cheerful demeanor, and awe of the vastness of the universe itself, was chosen to be a regular on The History Channel's popular series The Universe.

In May 2009, he launched a one-hour radio talk show called StarTalk, which he co-hosted with comedienne Lynne Koplitz. The show was syndicated on Sunday afternoons on KTLK AM in Los Angeles and WHFS in Washington D.C. The show lasted for thirteen weeks, but was resurrected in December 2010 and then, co-hosted with comedians Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord instead of Koplitz. The show is also available via the internet through a live stream or in the form of a podcast.^[14]

In April 2011, Tyson was the keynote speaker at the 93rd International Convention of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society of the Two-year School. He and James Randi delivered a lecture entitled Skepticism, which related directly with the convention's theme of The Democratization of Information: Power, Peril, and Promise.

In 2012, Tyson announced that he would appear in a YouTube series based on his popular StarTalk radio show. A premiere date for the show has not been announced, but it will be distributed on the Nerdist YouTube Channel.^[15]

Views[link]

Tyson has argued that the concept of intelligent design thwarts the advance of scientific knowledge.^[16][17][18] When asked if he believed in a higher power, Tyson responded: "Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence."^[19] In an interview on podcast Point of Inquiry, Tyson defines himself as an agnostic.^[20]

He has written and broadcast extensively about his views of religion, spirituality, and the spirituality of science including the essays, "The Perimeter of Ignorance"^[21] and "Holy Wars",^[18] both appearing in Natural History magazine and the 2006 Beyond Belief workshop.^[22][23] Tyson has collaborated with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and presented talks with him on religion and science.^[24]

Tyson lived near the World Trade Center and was an eyewitness to the September 11, 2001 attacks. He wrote a widely circulated letter on what he saw.^[25] On June 6, 2008, after the conclusion of the Democratic presidential primaries, Tyson wrote an op-ed in The New York Times in which he presented a statistical analysis of then recent polling data. From this analysis, Tyson concluded that in a hypothetical election held on the day of the publication of his article, Barack Obama would lose to John McCain, whereas Hillary Clinton would beat McCain.^[26]

Tyson collaborated with PETA on a PSA that stated, "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that kindness is a virtue."^[27] He also granted PETA an interview, in which he discussed the concept of intelligence (both of human and other animals), the failure of humans to heretofore communicate meaningfully with other animals, and the need of humans to be empathetic.^[28]

Media appearances[link]

As a science communicator, Tyson regularly appears on television, radio, and various other media outlets. He has been a regular guest on The Colbert Report, and host Stephen Colbert refers to him in his comedic book I Am America (And So Can You!), noting in his chapter on scientists that most scientists are "decent, well-intentioned people," but, presumably tongue-in-cheek, that "Neil DeGrasse Tyson is an absolute monster."^[31] He has appeared numerous times on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He also has made appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and The Rachel Maddow Show.^[32] He served as one of the central interviewees on the various episodes of the History Channel science program, The Universe, and . Tyson participated on the NPR radio quiz program Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! in 2007.^[33] He has appeared several times on Real Time with Bill Maher, and he was also featured on an episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? as the ask the expert lifeline.^[34]

Tyson has been featured as a guest interviewee on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, and has been in several of the Symphony of Science videos.^[35][36]

In 2007 Tyson was the keynote speaker during the dedication ceremony of Deerfield Academy's new science center, the Koch Center. He emphasized the impact science will have on the twenty-first century, as well as explaining that investments into science may be costly, but their returns in the form of knowledge gained, and piquing interest is invaluable. Tyson has also appeared as the keynote speaker at The Amazing Meeting, a science and skepticism conference hosted by the James Randi Educational Foundation.

Tyson made a guest appearance as himself in the episode "Brain Storm" of Stargate Atlantis.^[37] and in the episode "The Apology Insufficiency" of The Big Bang Theory.^[38]

Tyson is also a frequent participant in the website Reddit’s AMAs (Ask Me Anythings) where he is responsible for 3 of the top 10 most popular AMAs of all-time. ^[39]

Personal life[link]

Signing a copy of his book Origins, portrait taken at JREF's The Amazing Meeting 6

Tyson lives in Lower Manhattan with his wife and two children.^[40][41]

Tyson is a fine wine enthusiast whose collection was featured in the May 2000 issue of the Wine Spectator and the Spring 2005 issue The World of Fine Wine.

Selected awards and honors[link]

Awards[link]

• 2001 Medal of Excellence, Columbia University, New York City
• 2004 NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal
• 2007 Klopsteg Memorial Award winner
• 2009 Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award from the Space Foundation for significant contributions to public awareness of space programs.^[9]
• 2009 Isaac Asimov award from the American Humanist Association ^[42]

Selected honorary doctorates[link]

• 1997 York College, City University of New York
• 2000 Ramapo College, Mahwah, New Jersey
• 2000 Dominican College, Orangeburg, New York
• 2001 University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia
• 2002 Bloomfield College, Bloomfield, New Jersey
• 2003 Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts
• 2004 College of Staten Island, City University of New York
• 2006 Pace University, New York City
• 2007 Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts
• 2007 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts
• 2008 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 2010 University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama
• 2010 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
• 2010 Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut
• 2011 Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
• 2012 Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts
• 2012 Western New England University, Springfield, Massachusetts

Honors[link]

• 2000 Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive, People Magazine^[43]
• 2001 asteroid named: 13123 Tyson, renamed from Asteroid 1994KA by the International Astronomical Union
• 2001 The Tech 100, voted by editors of Crain's Magazine to be among the 100 most influential technology leaders in New York
• 2004 Fifty Most Important African-Americans in Research Science^[44]
• 2007 Harvard 100: Most Influential Harvard Alumni Magazine, Cambridge. Massachusetts
• 2007 The Time 100, voted by the editors of Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world^[45]
• 2008 Discover Magazine selected him one of the "50 Best Brains in Science".^[46]

Selected books by Tyson[link]

List of books by Tyson:^[47]

• Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier (2012) ISBN 0-393-08210-5
• The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet (2009) ISBN 0-393-06520-0
• Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries (2007) ISBN 0-393-33016-8
• The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist (1st ed. 2000 / 2nd ed. 2004) ISBN 978-1-59102-188-9
• Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution (co-authored with Donald Goldsmith) (2004) ISBN 0-393-32758-2
• My Favorite Universe (A twelve part lecture series) (2003) ISBN 1-56585-663-5
• City of Stars: A New Yorker's Guide to the Cosmos (2002)
• Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge (2000) ISBN 1-56584-602-8
• One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos (2000) ISBN 0-309-06488-0
• Just Visiting This Planet (1998) ISBN 0-385-48837-8
• Universe Down to Earth (1994) ISBN 0-231-07560-X
• Merlin's Tour of the Universe (1989) ISBN 0-385-48835-1

References[link]