The Denial of Death or Death Anxiety and Terror Management Theory (Ernest Becker and Sheldon Solomon)

Ernest Becker was a cultural anthropologist and author who wrote extensively on the human condition and the nature of evil. According to Becker, the cause of evil in the world is rooted in the human condition itself.

Becker believed that human beings are uniquely aware of their own mortality, which creates a fundamental sense of anxiety and dread. To cope with this anxiety, individuals create symbolic systems of meaning, such as religion and culture, which provide a sense of purpose and significance to repress existential terror (death anxiety).

However, these symbolic systems can also lead to conflict and violence as individuals and groups become attached to their own particular worldview and seek to defend it at all costs. This can result in acts of aggression, oppression, and even genocide.

In other words, Becker argued that the root cause of evil in the world is the human need for meaning and significance, which can lead to the denigration and dehumanization of others who do not share the same worldview.

The knowledge of our death makes us uniquely human. That knowledge carries with it some heavy baggage. This is the basis of the denial of death or death anxiety.

This is a very difficult topic to explain to someone who’s never heard about these theories before. Most people never want to think about or talk about death. That’s the most difficult part of understanding these theories.

For the most part, Becker talks about these theories as unconscious activities. People will deny that they think this way or fall into this psychological conundrum. They say things like, “This doesn’t apply to me; I never think about death.” It takes deep reflection and thought to really make sense of why we behave and believe the way we do. It takes time to meditate on these theories to understand how they fit together and make sense.

I've spent a lot of time and energy learning about Ernest Becker’s ideas since discovering them a few years ago and trying to understand how they relate to my photographic work. I realized a long time ago that ever since I started creating pictures, fear of death has been the primary inspiration for my work. There are many idioms and phrases in the English language that point to death anxiety and death denial indirectly, but I’m going to attempt to lay them out clearly and plainly so that anyone and everyone can understand the basic concepts of these theories and our human condition.

The books I’m going to reference here are the following: The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker; The Birth and Death of Meaning by Ernest Becker; Escape from Evil by Ernest Becker; and The Worm at the Core: The Role of Death in Life by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski.

TERROR MANAGEMENT THEORY (TMT) AND DEATH ANXIETY/DEATH DENIAL

Let me say first that I’m not talking about the "fear of death" itself. Being afraid of the process of dying is different from what I’m addressing here. Thanatophobia is a different fear. Ernest Becker’s theory revolves around the psychological anxiety of not existing anymore and being forgotten. I want to be clear about this; it’s a completely different theory or idea than what most people think when they hear "death anxiety"

So what is Becker’s theory of death anxiety or death denial? In a nutshell, it’s the awareness that we will someday die. That knowledge makes us uniquely human. We attempt to transcend death heroically by embracing a meaningful conception of reality that gives us a sense that we're people of value. That brings out both the best, as well as, unfortunately, the worst in us. All of this is done in service of buffering the fear of not existing anymore (death anxiety).

The focus of terror management theory (TMT) research is how fear influences human thinking and behavior. According to TMT, death anxiety drives people to adopt world views that protect their self-esteem, worthiness, and sustainability and allow them to believe that they play an important role in a meaningful world. Some of these views lead to troubling actions.

According to TMT, people need to insulate themselves from their deep fear of living an insignificant life destined to be erased by death. One way to address this fear is to assure them that they are part of an important group. This desire to reinforce cultural significance in the face of death often results in displays of prejudice based on the belief that the group with which one identifies is superior to others. In this way, people confirm their self-importance, at least to themselves.

THE DRIVE BEHIND MOST HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Many people tend to push frightening realities out of their minds rather than face them head-on. That's especially true when it comes to the terrifying event from which no one can escape — death. Sheldon Solomon says people may suppress conscious thoughts about their mortality, but unconscious ones still seep through. One of the most profound revelations in all of this for me was when I realized that everything we do, large or small, is primarily driven by death anxiety. It is, in fact, the motivation behind most human activities. It drives our behavior, good and bad.

HEROIC TRANSCENDENCE

We need illusions to deal with death denial. In the description of TMT (above), it’s clear that we devise and participate in activities that Becker calls "immortality projects." These buffer the anxiety and provide us with self-esteem. They can be almost anything, belonging to a religion or a community group. Making art, being a politician, chasing wealth and fame, etc. So what are the best illusions? It’s obvious to say that the best illusions are innocuous. They don’t harm other people, animals, or nature.

THE WORM AT THE CORE & THE STORIES THAT BRING US COMFORT

The worm at the core is death. Our beliefs about reality serve to reduce death anxiety. We have a very difficult time getting along with people that don’t share our worldview. We’re threatened by them. In other words, if our beliefs about reality serve as an anxiety buffer and someone doesn’t share those same beliefs, it could mean that we are wrong. Remember, our beliefs or worldview serve to reduce death anxiety. If we’re wrong, we’ll lose that buffer. Hence, we are threatened by people who are different.
What allows you to stand up in the morning is your culturally constructed psychological accouterments. Your worldview or beliefs buffer the knowledge of your impending death. It can be a variety of beliefs. Religion, work, money, fame, material goods, community status, relationships, etc.

TRANQUILIZING YOURSELF WITH THE TRIVIAL (Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) Danish Theologian)

Most people are, in the words of Sheldon Solomon, “culturally constructed meat puppets.” Kierkegaard said that to avoid death anxiety, people “tranquilize ourselves with the trivial” They shop, drink, drug, watch tv, spend endless time on social media, etc.