I still believe the main psychological obstacle in the way is this vicarious 'feeling' that we somehow live on through succeeding generations, thus achieving a kind of immortality. Of course, it's a fake kind of immortality, experientially meaningless, but the fear of death will fashion a life preserver out of anything, it seems. Even imagination.
Ooh! That reminds me! My next little project needs to be a review of the film 'Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality'. It's something Chip asked me to do a while back, but I never got around to it (sorry, Chip). Although, I DID manage to procure a copy of the DVD signed by the director. Here's part of the blurb on the back cover-
Flight from Death uncovers death anxiety as a possible root cause of many of our behaviors on a psychological, spiritual, and cultural level.
I guess I should point out up front that they never address the obvious solution, although it's screaming to be heard from right off-stage. Then again, advocating the extinction of the human race, even on a voluntary basis, is the 'greatest taboo', isn't it?
1 comment:
Singer's either or both of 2 things:
A. He already has children, so he made up the end of the paragraph as an after-the-fact rationalization to shield himself from hypocrisy, or as a soothing balm for his conscience. IOW, a rhetorical fig leaf.
OR
B. He's trapped in the same DNA/Neurological architecture 99% of people are. IOW, trapped by the survival instinct, seeing things through survival-instinct-tinted glasses, etc.
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