Death-terror drives art, religion, war, consumerism, and fame-seeking
Evidence
Over the course of human history, the terror of death has guided the development of art, religion, language, economics, and science. It raised the pyramids in Egypt and razed the Twin Towers in Manhattan. It contributes to conflicts around the globe. At a more personal level, recognition of our mortality leads us to love fancy cars, tan ourselves to an unhealthy crisp, max out our credit cards, drive like lunatics, itch for a fight with a perceived enemy, and crave fame, however ephemeral, even if we have to drink yak urine on Survivor to get it. Death makes us uncomfortable with our bodies and ambivalent about sex. Awareness of the inevitability of death could easily contribute to our own extinction if we don’t change how we deal with it. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 28
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Becker’s Denial of Death and terror management theory generally.
Related
- Subtle death reminders drive worldview defense, self-esteem striving, and unhealthy behavior. (similarity 0.84)
- Death-awareness drives humans to cling to cultural worldviews and self-esteem (similarity 0.84)
- Humans construct cultural identities to deny mortality. (similarity 0.82)
- Death’s most powerful influence operates unseen in normal life (similarity 0.82)
- Knowing how death awareness drives defenses enables more self-determined choices (similarity 0.81)
- Culture cannot fully repress death terror, driving people to localize threats in fetishized evil. (similarity 0.81)
- No account of human behavior is complete without the awareness of death (similarity 0.80)
- Death awareness would have been lethal without simultaneous cultural adaptations to deny it (similarity 0.80)
- Psychological disorders result from failed attempts to manage death anxiety (similarity 0.80)
- Mortality reminders increase desire for high-status luxury goods. (similarity 0.80)
- People are generally oblivious to death yet it shapes their experience (similarity 0.79)
- Threatening cherished beliefs brings thoughts of death closer to awareness (similarity 0.79)
- People pursue self-destructive trends most avidly when death thoughts are unconscious (similarity 0.79)
- Character and culture are built to shield us from death-terror (similarity 0.79)
- Affluence and technology allow Americans to avoid facing death (similarity 0.78)