Death anxiety and humans

Humans have two selves. One is the physical self, consisting of mortal and decaying elements. The other is the symbolic self, consisting of identity and meaning. Among all species, humans have the capacity to know and think about their death. The very idea of knowing that they will die becomes the source of existential anxiety which later on sets the foundation of human civilisation. Humans construct cultures as a defence mechanism against death. The entire culture exists as a shield to provide lasting meaning to humans and protect them from death anxiety. Nations, identities, careers, families, art and political ideologies are used as immortality projects in which humans become heroes to serve any particular purpose so that they can become immortal through different mechanisms. Overall, every human unconsciously strives to become immortal by creating some meaning and purpose through different institutions of a culture.

Every human acknowledges the fact that they will die and everything will end. The inevitability of death produces deep existential anxiety which can be termed the terror of death. The symbolic immortality project protects humans from transcending their mortality by creating different hero-systems. Modern hero-systems include becoming successful, gaining fame, loving someone completely and building a career. Humans try to create meaning through different kinds of heroism to create symbolic immortality to fight against the fear of death. It is an unconscious struggle to fight the eternal reality of death and create a lasting existence.

Cultures are created so that humans can become part of something permanent, meaningful and larger, and survive the psychological trauma of death anxiety. People attach their self-worth and symbolic immortality to race, religion, nationality and identity. Commonly we have the idea that all the fights and conflicts in human history are outcomes of the material struggle. In essence, humans unknowingly struggle to fight the fear of death. They create meaning with different heroes like nationalism, identity and religion. They attach the idea of their self-worth and eternal existence to these heroes. They think that if their nation continues to survive it means they are surviving and living forever. Therefore, individuals and nations fight to validate their hero system. If their hero system dies, they will psychologically die.

In modern times, humans don't pursue tangible achievements only for material gains but for psychological transcendence - an unconscious desire to erase death and move beyond the grave. Even a political affiliation with different parties is perceived on the idea of aligning with something larger and permanent. Modern breakups and divorces often occur not because of incompatibility but because individuals unknowingly and unconsciously struggle with the idea that their partners protect them from mortality and vulnerability. We try to make mortal humans carry the weight of our immortality project. This burden inevitably crushes relationships.

Overall, this idea emphasises that humans are only capable of understanding and imagining their death, which causes death anxiety. Humans create different meanings and situations to fight the anxiety of death and escape it through hero systems. Those hero systems like family, political affiliation, careers, fame and money provide a sense of permanence in an unstable world. All historic and modern clashes and conflicts are directly connected to escaping the fear of death. Humans fight and die for their ideologies, nations and civilisations because they believe that they are defending their symbolic existence which will help them to live beyond the grave. In the contemporary era, depression and anxiety are real consequences of modern society. This is because our traditional hero-systems like family, religion and morality are failing to provide symbolic immortality to our awareness of death anxiety.