



Our daily thoughts, projects, self esteem and culture are mainly arbitrary illusions, designed to counter our unconscious fear of finitude and insignificance--our fear of death. "Success" and "achievement" thus mean success at achieving greater levels of death denial. Since we need at least some of this ego illusion to function and counter this inevitable anxiety, the goal is then to achieve non-destructive forms of self-esteem/heroism, including taking pride in anything that reduces human destruction of other species. The ultimate heroism may be accepting our death as individuals and--given the unacceptable potential for destruction of Homo Sapiens--accepting our extinction as a species.



Explanations of the Denial of Death by Ernest Becker and Terror Management Theory.