The Denial of Death

[Meatpie]

My favourite book of all time is "The Denial of Death" by Ernest Becker, published in 1973.

In his book Becker argues

"The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else; it is a mainspring of human activity—activity designed largely to avoid the fatality of death, to overcome it by denying in some way that it is the final destiny for man..."
​

For Becker the fear of death is the primary motivation behind all human behavior & behind the formation of human society. People love to think of themselves as beings of value and worth, a concept in psychology known as self-esteem.

Feeling like you are in control by making money, working out at the gym, having a great healthy body all boast your self-esteem and make you think your life has a meaning and that you are somehow special & invincible.

This self-esteem however according to Becker is only used as a buffer against our terror of death that we all carry deep inside our subconscious.

His theory doesn't violate the theory of evolution because specific fears of things that threaten a human's continued existence have an adaptive function and helped facilitate the survival of our ancestors’ genes.

Most of our lives we try to ignore or avoid the inevitability of death, Becker says.

The terror of absolute annihilation creates such a profound—albeit subconscious—anxiety in people that they spend their whole lives attempting to make sense of it.

On larger scales, societies build symbols: laws, religious meaning systems, cultures, and belief systems to explain the significance of life, define what makes certain characteristics, skills, and talents extraordinary, reward others whom they find exemplify certain attributes, and punish or kill others who do not adhere to their cultural worldview.

On an individual level, self-esteem provides a buffer against death-related anxiety.

His book attracted much criticism but still he won the Pulitzer Prize for it and helped establish the now widely accepted terror management theory and even today Becker has many fans, including myself.

His theory continues to be tested to this day and research has confirmed his observations, most people are either in total denial and would avoid even talking about or become obsessed like all of us here on CDG.

Agree or disagree?

Ernest Becker croaked from colon cancer shortly after his book was published, he was only 50, his book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1974, just two months after the author's death.

 

[ukon]

Death is the culmination of Life , it is inevitable, we will all experience it eventually some sooner than others, none can deny it . I had never heard of Mr Becker until seeing this Post , some interesting postulations . I will need to think on this subject more before makeing any further comments . A good subject to raise Meatpie and very appropriate for this site where Death is a theme to most of us at least in terms of our fantasies . I'm sure Psychologists and Psychiatrist would love to analize most of the members ( Now THAT would be scary).

 

[mxboots888]

Thanks for the recommendation, MP. I'll have to look it up. Looks interesting...

 

[bindiboi]

I have a similar yet different theory. Humans fear only 2 things, some could argue just one. The unknown and pain. Think about peoples fears, then boil them down. What do they boil down to ultimately? Pain. Now it could be viewed that the unknown is a separate entity. I could see either, but mostly subscribe to just pain. Someone is afraid of spiders, why? Because they think they can HURT them. Heights? The fall. Every fear it is the possibility of pain. Now Death is a tricky one. On one hand we may fear it due to the possibility it may be painful. But let's for the sake of argument say that death is 100% painless. Would you fear it then? Many would say yes. So why is that. The uncertainty, the unknown of what comes after. I say that if the fear of the unknown is further boiled down, it is still about the fear of pain. Why do we fear what we do not know? If you knew there was an afterlife (I said KNOW, not BELIEVE), and you knew it was pleasant. Would you fear death then? I doubt it.
Many years ago, I was a very fearful person. I was afraid of everything. Spiders, people, confrontation, heights, and pain. One day, after being bullied one time too many something in me snapped. I threw my history book at the bully's face and busted and bloodied his nose. He never laid another hand on me again, nor did anyone ever again. In one instance I discovered the power of standing up for myself and standing up to my fear. That was in 7th grade. One by one I made it a mission to confront and concur my fears. Spiders, hold a tarantula and later own one. Now I actually love spiders and am something of a spider aficionado. Heights? Work on a rollercoaster on summer break. Now I love coasters. People? Made myself audition for a play. Now I love performance and as a bonus, discovered psychology. So what of pain? Well that one was decided for me. I got Neuropathy, a disease of just that, pain. Throw in literally dying in 1996 and what do you get? No fears. The only one to mention is the loss of my Mother. That is the only fear I still have and always hope to have.

Why do I fear that? The pain of not having her.

I will look into that book though, still sounds interesting.

 

[fireboots]

Interesting food for thought. Like Bindboi, I've been on the edge of death, my heart stopped twice while I was on life support after a horrific accident. As a result of that accident I live with pain everyday. The pain is manageable, I'm basically healthy, but death is always hanging around. There are times when the pain becomes overwhelming, crippling, and coupled with depression, then the thought of death becomes a relief.

Death is 100% certain, just the timing is uncertain.

 

[Meatpie]

Death is the culmination of Life , it is inevitable, we will all experience it eventually some sooner than others, none can deny it . I had never heard of Mr Becker until seeing this Post , some interesting postulations . I will need to think on this subject more before makeing any further comments . A good subject to raise Meatpie and very appropriate for this site where Death is a theme to most of us at least in terms of our fantasies . I'm sure Psychologists and Psychiatrist would love to analize most of the members ( Now THAT would be scary).

The older I ger the more convinced I become that our entire existence revolves around death.

 

[Octave]

I didn't know this author. Thank you, Meatpie. I'll try to find this book in french.

 

[ukon]

The older I ger the more convinced I become that our entire existence revolves around death - Meatpie

I am a pedantic bastard and for whatever reason that is the way I am .
I find the above statement too profound, Entire to me is an absolute and I dislike absolutes there is just no wiggle room . My existence or life revolves around family , friends, cars, other men, movies, books, music, social media (like CDG) and other activities. I don’t consciously think about death much at all , when on this site I guess it is closer to the forefront of my thoughts but mostly in a fantasizing way . As we all know death is inevitable and the ultimate experience for a person , therefore I have come to accept it , mind you I don’t know if any of us will actually react to that moment as we expect , I guess it depends on the circumstances.
When I was younger it certainly did occupy me a lot along with God etc. but for now I just get on with life till it happens, hopefully it will occupy less and less of your time , you can’t escape it and spending a lot of time contemplating the intricacies and ramifications of it will achieve only a lot of time spent trying to satisfy an unscratchable itch ( you cant change the outcome)
I guess as a summary, Some people spend more time than other contemplating Death (Mortality) and its meaning but it all ends exactly the same way .
I still have not read that book but am looking, Thanks Meatpie

 

[Meatpie]

Please ukon. The very fact that you are a member of this website and posting means you are preoccupied with thoughts about death.

All humans are, in most people it's on a subconscious level but it's there that's what the book "The Denial of Death" is all about.

 

[mxboots888]

I'm listening to the audiobook now...

 

[Meatpie]

Link?

 

[mxboots888]

I found it on a torrent link. Just do a search and you will find several

http://torrentz.eu/c643c66b03b875712ffb0385a5ef6ff957b8091e