About this episode
Let’s talk about death, baby. Today we’re asking: Why are we so afraid to die? Are we 21st century humans any different than Gilgamesh (remember Gilgamesh)? Who’s the most afraid of death: baby boomers, millennials or Gen-Z? Should you freeze your brain in case future humans figure out how not to die? What’s death meditation? Can Victoria talk about her spiritual breakthrough without sounding unbearably woo woo? How do we get less afraid to die??? JUMP AROUND: I. disclaimers 0:37 II. what is death anxiety? 5:19 III. the paradox of being human (ernest becker) 8:09 IV. trying not to die across history (from gilgamesh to cryonics) 12:50 V. afterlife beliefs: then and now 17:13 ad break (are you proud of me or annoyed or both??) VI. demographic differences in fear of death 20:03 a. nationality 20:49 b. religion 24:15 c. age 26:27 VII. my experiences with death anxiety 30:37 a. fear of being buried alive 33:53 b. false memories related to death 37:22 c. fear of oblivion 39:02 d. spiritual crisis 41:51 ad break VIII. my experiences with death meditation 43:38 IX. my ego nap 51:44 SOURCES: definition of death anxiety: https://tinyurl.com/death-anxiety Collett-Lester Fear Of Death Scale (CL-FODS) : Cuniah M, Bréchon G, Bailly N. Validation of the Revised Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale in a French Population. https://tinyurl.com/4sp6rh5k re: the paradox of being human : The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker re: trying not to die across history : The Epic of Gilgamesh; cryonics ( https://tinyurl.com/yckp6jsf ); monkey testicle transplant ( https://tinyurl.com/3w3svbtm ) re: gen Z attitudes towards death : https://tinyurl.com/bdf2u9yx re: nationality and religious divides in attitudes towards death https://tinyurl.com/m6f9mepx ; the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS; Hoelter, 1979; Neimeyer & Moore, 1994), DePaola, Griffin, Young, and Neimeyer (2003); Duff and Hong (1995); Alvarado, Templer, Bresler, & Thomson-Dobson, 1995)