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rodge

"One defining feature of humans is our inability to accept our own mortality. Our culture, our religions, our big buildings and our fancy toys, are all designed to distract us from catching a glimpse of the fact that we'll all, individually and collectively, turn into poop. But what if we met an alien race that didn't share our neurosis about dying? What would their society look like?


The idea I mention above, about all human cultures being a defense mechanism against recognizing our own mortality, is the theory of Freudian psychologist Ernest Becker, in his 1973 Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Denial Of Death. Becker believes humans create "hero systems," including religion and science, to try and compensate for, or cover up, our mortality. All mental illness stems from the failure of our heroic death-defying projects, and the ensuing awareness of our doom.

So how would an alien culture look if it had come to terms with the inevitable? My first impulse is to say that they'd be more emotionally healthy, totally zen and Yoda-like. They've gotten over their fear of death! So they would have fewer taboos — Becker claims our neuroses around human excrement stem from the fact that they remind us our bodies are going to decay — and they would be less crazed in their attempt to create something "heroic" to help them pretend they won't flop over and turn into fossils any time now. Maybe they'd have some nice ritual for marking the transition to the next plane of existence, or maybe they'd just throw out their dead with the trash?

But on second thought, maybe aliens who weren't neurotic about their own mortality would be total assholes? No fear of death might make them into crazy warriors. Plus, if it's true that even glimpsing or beginning to comprehend our own mortality makes humans psychotic or depressive, it's possible that aliens who had fully comprehended their deaths would just be total psychos? The awareness of death would overshadow everything and make them into maniacs? Plus if they had no taboos around excrement, they might be living in their own filth? Also, who knows what other taboos they might lack? (This is assuming they actually excrete, or even have recognizable states of being "dead" or "alive," as we know them. And that they recognize single creatures as unique individuals, that can be either alive or dead.)

I guess it all boils down to the extreme difficulty of imagining a truly alien culture, one with a biology and a social structure so different from our own that it probably would seem insane to us. It takes so little to push a human's consciousness into a state that most of us consider insane, it's hard to imagine that aliens might not naturally occupy one of those states of mind. The main limiting factor, of course, is that any species has to be able to survive in its environment — and have the drive to stay alive and reproduce, or it won't be around for long. So even if our putative aliens did have an easier time reconciling themselves to death, they would have to take reasonable steps to avoid it, or they wouldn't be around to meet us in the first place."

Xenosociology: What If We Met Aliens Who Had Accepted Death?

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My primordial nature has no liking for the life in the cities.
To be free from the noise I built a little thatched cottage.
Far away in the depth of the mountains.
Wandering here and there I carry no thought.

 

Hashishi

Not sure I agree with this interpretation of Becker. I think the argument fell apart when he began taking the alien analogy literally - it's far more interesting to ponder the issue from the perspective of a parallel human civilisation. Fundamentally, to overcome 'denial of death' is to overcome one's primitive, mammalian psyche. What would supersede it? Drugs, for one. A more advanced understanding of neurochemistry will likely result in the ability to control mindset the same as any other biological function; much like Philip K. Dick proposes in "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"?

Interesting to ponder, though - thanks for sharing!

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SWP



"I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty." -- "If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly." -- "Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin's still learning." -- "As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns: the ones we don't know we don't know."

Trocisp

I think you're reading too much into the "fear of death," personally. Many people fear death, and eventually build things that will outlast their life times - yes. However, these building may still have occurred from a purely pragmatic viewpoint. Stonehenge, for instance, was a religious and agrarian object (lining up with the sun, giving some indication of plant and harvest times). Buildings like the empire state building were built not only to last beyond a single persons life time - but to serve a purpose. Creating more land and office space where formerly, there was very little (comparatively).

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rodge

perhaps extreme religious devotion. for example, muslims believe that life is a trial in preparation for a next realm of existence. many pious muslims are willing to sacrifice their lives for a particular 'cause', and do not fear death because of this belief. does this mean they've accepted death? do they talk about death freely and openly, without grief or suffering?

or, tibetan buddhism, where the rituals and beliefs of death are talked about from a very young age. they've accepted that death is certain, time of death is uncertain, and that the only thing that will help them when they are dying is prior mental and spiritual development. much of their literature is devoted entirely to death, and the preparation for it. have they overcome 'denial of death'?

should we even prepare for death? or, would we be better of to just go about existing and ignoring it until it comes?

ps: thanks for book recommendation hashi

appleyardrules

one time i came to terms with death and i fell out of society
then one day i woke up alright