notes on the Denial of Death

the fear of death, some argue, is the primary catalyst for human behavior and culture.


the concept of the soul is an immortality ideology and when the literal world fails us, we turn to the symbolic world.




heroism is one attempt to transcend the limits of our mortality by becoming a lasting narrative for others to recall and remember.


writing a great book or documentary is another attempt to transcend one's mortality, by living on through one’s created works. human creativity is in this sense trying to leave a sign that we were once here on this world.


architecture: symbols of enduring immortality


wealth: symbolic power over death. for example, “you can’t threaten me. i can buy protection”. “i can buy health through doctors and drugs.”
 


we identify with symbols and we make sure our symbols of immortality and culture endure.


the existence of other cultures can pose a threat to our ontological stability. if ultimately there can be only one truth, then the other supposed truths must be wrong.


the existence of other conceptions of reality forces us to question our own belief systems, and therefore our claims to immortality. this leads to: denial and conflict, or acceptance and tolerance, or denial and an attempt to persuade.


most protracted conflicts are ideological in nature (religious, political). war is a result of people being psychologically intolerant of people who don't share their conception of reality (my country is better than yours, my religion is right). 


however, if i can sell my conception of reality to others and they accept it, then that is a strong validation that i am right. this is the basis of evangelism.
 


sometimes, people confront death by inflicting it on other people (kill or be killed).


some people engage in risky actions in an attempt to assert one’s self against the possibility of death. “i am willing to sky-dive and risk my life because there’s no way i can die—maybe other people, but NOT ME.” “i am willing to risk my life and go to war because if i die in the war, i know people will remember me  for my heroism.”