That book is dark, yet straight to the point! I have meditated on death and I can see an internal aversion to it! In daily life, a lot of people are totally uncomfortable talking bout death, but deep down everyone knows we are'nt here forever ! But who dies? The false ego does, our real essence is eternal! Once we train our minds to dwell on reality, the fear of death completely vanishes, this shouldn't be an intellectual narrative but a deep realization!

It's been an enormously influential book, leading to an entirely new field of research - Terror Management Theory. Becker had access to only a few physical or medical devices that showed that an individual's unconscious mind reacts to images or circumstances of death that the conscious mind does not perceive. Since then there have been great technological advances like fMRI's that allow researchers to see how the brain reacts to images of death, which bear out what Becker was saying: we devote a lot of effort repressing and avoiding thoughts of our death. In a way, we couldn't survive if we didn't, and Becker points to studies of some people who lack this ability to repress such thoughts and live a life of constant anxiety.

As to Freud, Becker disagreed with Freud's focus on sex as the fundamental background to our psychology. In a way, Becker replaced Freud's focus on sex with his own focus on death.

If you've ever had a sudden panic when you discovered a lump on your body or avoided a dangerous car accident, you'll know what Becker was talking about. There's an autonomic response, with an elevated heart rate, sweat, etc., and there's also a mental realization "I might die!" or "I could have died!" It's terrifying.

p.s. it's Ernest Becker

I like how he talks about various "solutions" by which we manage our fear of nonexistence. It was a liberating book for me, setting free my creativity.

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It’s utter BS