Podcast appearances and mentions of Sheldon Solomon

Sheldon Solomon is a leading figure in psychology, known for his extensive research on the effects of death awareness on human behavior. His influential studies have not only advanced academic understanding but also reached wider audiences through impactful documentaries and publications.

for this full episode, two extra episodes each month, and exclusive content please visit: patreon.com/thenickbryantpodcast video: https://youtu.be/flzSzQtoXiU  Sheldon Solomon, PhD, was integral to developing the concept of Terror Management Theory, which is based on Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize winning Denial of Death. He is the co-author of The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. Sheldon is a Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College.  nickbryantnyc.com EpsteinJustice.com

I am pumped for this episode of the podcast! We have a truly enlightening discussion with the pioneers of Terror Management Theory (TMT), Dr. Sheldon Solomon, Dr. Jeff Greenberg, and Dr. Tom Pyszczynski. Terror Management Theory, a groundbreaking concept in psychology, explores how humans cope with the inherent awareness of their mortality. Developed in the 1980s, this theory has significantly influenced various fields, including social psychology, anthropology, and sociology. Dr. Sheldon Solomon, Dr. Jeff Greenberg, and Dr. Tom Pyszczynski, through their extensive research and groundbreaking experiments, have uncovered profound insights into how humans navigate existential fears, shape their beliefs, and construct cultural systems to manage the terror of death. Join us as we embark on a thought-provoking journey, exploring the origins of Terror Management Theory, its implications for understanding human behaviour, and its relevance in today's world. Get ready Mind-Maters to delve into the depths of the human psyche and gain a deeper understanding of what drives our thoughts, actions, and beliefs. Here are some of my favourite quotes from their book ‘The Worm at the Core': “The twin motives of affirming the correctness of our worldviews and demonstrating our personal worth combine to protect us from the uniquely human fear of inevitable death.” “Rituals, then, help manage existential terror by superseding natural processes and fostering the illusion that we control them.” “We have to believe in our own truths to sustain the precarious view that life is meaningful and that we are significant, enduring beings. “One culture is always a potential menace to another,” Becker observed, “because it is a living example that life can go on heroically within a value framework totally alien to one's own.” If the Aborigines' belief that magical ancestors metamorphosed into humans after becoming lizards is credible, then the idea that God created the world in six days, and Adam in his image, must be suspect.” “Yalom, following Austrian-born Israeli philosopher Martin Buber, calls it an I-thou relationship rather than an I-it one. By getting to know someone as a whole person rather than a need fulfiller, you can come to realise that the other person as just as ultimately alone as you are. But you now have that in common. Once you accept the limited knowledge you can have of each other, you can then feel close to and love someone, and be loved by them.” “Somehow we need to fashion worldviews that yield psychological security, like the rock, but also promote tolerance and acceptance of ambiguity, like the hard place.” And finally, here is their suggestion for living a good life: “Come to terms with death. Really grasp that being mortal, while terrifying, can also make our lives sublime by infusing us with courage, compassion, and concern for future generations. Seek enduring significance through your own combination of meanings and values, social connections, spirituality, personal accomplishments, identifications with nature, and momentary experiences of transcendence. Promote cultural worldviews that provide such paths while encouraging tolerance of uncertainty and others who harbour different beliefs.”

Jamie Anderson said, “Grief is just love with no place to go.” Today we hear from three experts on grief in their chosen fields and discuss how it applies to the witchcraft community. Lulu- @thesalemplantwitch on TT. Runs a therapeutic group for witches in berevement. Mortellus @acrowandthedead on Insta. Author of 'Do I Have to Wear Black? Rituals, Customs and Funerary Etiquette for Modern Pagans' and 'The Bones Fall In a Spiral: a Necromantic Primer.' Courtney Weber @courtneyaweber on Insta. One of the hosts of That Witch Life podcast; author of the forthcoming 'Sacred Tears: A Witch's Guide to Grief.' Out June 2024. Books mentioned in this episode include: It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand by Megan Devine and Mark Nepo Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying by Sallie Tisdale The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, et al. There Is No Good Card for This: What To Say and Do When Life Is Scary, Awful, and Unfair to People You Love by Kelsey Crowe and Emily McDowell For children dealing with grief: Death Is Stupid (Ordinary Terrible Things) by Anastasia Higginbotham --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/blackthorngrove/support

Sheldon Solomon is an American social psychologist. He is a professor of psychology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Solomon is best known for developing terror management theory, along with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski. This theory is concerned with how humans deal with their own sense of mortality.Today we talk all about existential themes and how our mortality affects our psychology.We also discuss - the concept of death anxiety and terror management theory in some depth, the relationship between mortality and the meaning we extract from our lives, the right way to approach our mortality to improve our mental health, the relationship between death anxiety and political attitudes,the importance of self-esteem in getting through the ups and downs of life and many other topicsInterviewed by Dr. Alex Curmi - Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcastJoin Our Mailing List! - https://thinkingmindpod.aidaform.com/mailinglistsignupSUPPORT: buymeacoffee.com/thinkingmind

Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College. He is best known for developing terror management theory with Tom Pyszczynski and Jeff Greenberg, which explores human psychology and mortality. In this episode, Robinson and Sheldon discuss Ernest Becker's groundbreaking book The Denial of Death, how it influenced him and his collaborators, and how they have studied—with the tools of contemporary social psychology—how humans are affected by their sense of mortality. The Worm at the Core: https://a.co/d/7p05yA6 OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode… 00:51 Introduction 03:33 Discovering Ernest Becker 08:29 What Is Self-Esteem? 19:04 Freud and the Denial of Death 27:20 Man and the Heroic Journey 46:41 Where Was Becker Wrong? 54:44 What Is Terror Management Theory? 01:06:26 Children's Fear of Death 01:10:23 A History of Death Denial 01:14:19 Possible Criticisms 01:18:00 A Prescriptive Dimension to Death Denial Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/robinson-erhardt/support

Sheldon Solomon, a professor of psychology at Skidmore College, has spent his professional life studying humans' fear of death and the wide ranging implications it has on how we live. He and his colleagues detail this idea, Terror Management Theory, and their countless studies about TMT in their book, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. In this episode, Sheldon explains how the fear of death governs our society and also shares his journey of personal reckoning with his cosmic insignificance. He also has some really accessible recommendations for starting to make peace with your own death.You can learn more about Sheldon's work and find his book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170217/the-worm-at-the-core-by-sheldon-solomon-jeff-greenberg-and-tom-pyszczynski/https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/faculty/solomon.php

Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist best known for developing terror management theory concerned with how humans deal with their own sense of mortality. Shaldon's book "The Worm at the Core" is based on 25 years of in-depth research, drawing from innovative experiments conducted around the globe that shows conclusively that the fear of death and the desire to transcend it inspire us to buy expensive cars, crave fame, put our health at risk, and disguise our animal nature. SPONSORS: https://bluechew.com - Try BlueChew FREE when you use our promo code KONCRETE at checkout. EPISODE LINKS: bit.ly/3KNcfgE https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/faculty/solomon.php FOLLOW DANNY JONES https://www.instagram.com/jonesdannyhttps://twitter.com/jonesdanny JOIN OUR KULT: https://bit.ly/koncretepatreon OUTLINE 0:00 - The #1 driver behind human consciousness 6:49 - Human cognition & awareness of death 23:17 - Death experiments on humans 28:30 - What happens when children learn about death 35:35 - Jordan Peterson 50:23 - Equality of opportunity VS equality of outcome 1:02:03 - John Locke, government, & giving up freedom 1:12:37 - American values & individualism 1:21:55 - How existential dread relates to politics 1:45:43 - Civilization collapse 2:04:32 - Climate change 2:09:52 - Artificial intelligence & immortality 2:16:09 - UFOs & schizophrenia 2:23:18 - Psychedelics 2:35:55 - What happens after we die?

"Here we are at a crossroads of human history. There's never been this historical confluence of war, political instability, economic vulnerability, on top of the impending ecological apocalypse.Here we are, just marinated in death reminders. And what we know from our research is that that turns us into depressed, demoralized, proto fascists plundering the planet in our insatiable desire for dollars and dross in an alcohol-oxycodone-TikTok-twittering stupor.This is not a great position to be in."Are you afraid of dying?Sheldon Solomon has been researching death anxiety and its impact on our behaviour for decades, finding that unmitigated death awareness drives mindless consumption, political polarisation and more disordered behaviour. In short, our fear of death could be driving the climate crisis.We discuss the link between death awareness and self-awareness, how cultural beliefs are used to anesthetize death anxiety, how Western culture has the ironic effect of exacerbating that very anxiety that it's trying to solve, and why the solutions lie with imagination and creativity.Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College.  His studies of the effects of the uniquely human awareness of death on behaviour were featured in the award winning documentary film Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality.  He is co-author of In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror and The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. Planet: Critical investigates why the world is in crisis—and what to do about it. Support the project with a paid subscription.© Rachel Donald Get full access to Planet: Critical at www.planetcritical.com/subscribe

Sheldon Solomon is an American social psychologist at Skidmore College. He is known for developing terror management theory, along with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, which is concerned with how humans deal with their own sense of mortality.

Sheldon Solomon is a renowned epileptic doctor and Scorner2013, who has given a wide-ranging talk on secularisations. In this episode, Lexman and Sheldon discuss the various secularisations, with a focus on epilepsy.

Professor Sheldon Solomon is the Ross Professor for Interdisciplinary Studies at Skidmore College, New York. Professor Sheldon is one of the true pioneers in the fields of social and evolutionary psychology. Best known for developing terror management theory (TMT), along with Jess Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, Sheldon and colleagues have revolutionised our understanding of how humans deal with their own sense of mortality and the often destructive effects of ‘death denial' on individual and collective behaviour. An engaging speaker and raconteur, in more recent years Sheldon has turned his attention to how death anxiety might be related to the anthropocene and the insatiable appetite of humans for more, whether that be cheap energy or lethal consumption. In this conversation we talk about why death denial is so pervasive, evidence underpinning TMT, death and the Hobbesian imperative in global politics, hope without optimism, Epicurus, Heidegger and much, much more. Solomon can be found here: https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/faculty/solomon.php We discussed: ‘Death Denial in the Anthropocene' In the book: K. Zywert & Stephen Quilley (eds.), Health in the Anthropocene: Living Well on a Finite Planet (University of Toronto Press, 2020): https://utorontopress.com/9781487524142/health-in-the-anthropocene/ The Worm at the Core: On The Role of Death in Life (with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski) (Penguin/Random House, 2015): https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170217/the-worm-at-the-core-by-sheldon-solomon-jeff-greenberg-and-tom-pyszczynski/ Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death (Free Press/Macmillan, 1973): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Denial_of_Death Flight from Death, 2003 documentary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_from_Death

Avebury, one of the most famous prehistoric sites in England, is also home to one of the world's most unusual aardvarks. Known scientifically as Aardvark bitis porcorum, the aardvark is a small burrowing animal that is distantly related to the rabbit. Despite its diminutive size, the aardvark is surprising stout for its height at just under one foot high when standing on its hind legs. Sheldon Solomon is an archaeologist and professor emeritus from Brown University who has studied Avebury for more than four decades. In this episode of Lexman, Solomon discusses

Sheldon Solomon is a philosopher and the author of Theism: Why Most Christians Believe It. In this interview, Lexman discusses Solomon's arguments for theism, along with some of his critiques.

Sheldon Solomon, the mythographer, joins Lexman in discussing the story of Nides, the demigods who lived in tabourets. They discuss the intricacies of this myth and how it has evolved over time.

Sheldon Solomon is a world-renowned expert on berths and drumlins. He's also the author of "Abusing Enterostomies: A Field Guide to Vulgarity, Humor, and Cleverness." In this episode, Lexman and Sheldon discuss the intersection of berths and drumlins, courts and lard, and the absurdities that come with them.

In this episode of The Session, social psychologist Dr Sheldon Solomon joins Tom Swarbrick to discuss our sense of mortality and his terror management theory.

Sheldon Solomon shares his secret to adding days to your life.

Sheldon Solomon is a renowned hydropathist and illusionist who will be joining Lexman on the show to discuss his craft. They'll be discussing everything from the origins of illusionism to the techniques used by masters of the art. If you're looking for a fascinating treat, you won't want to miss this episode!

The Sheldon Solomon ScreedProvider Antiochus Thrust III introduces his latest project - a screed provider that will allow users to easily produce screeds. Meanwhile, Leonard and Sheldon get into an argument over the correct way to use metho, and Penny tries to help Leonard with his hockets.

How do we go beyond the divisions in our society? This episode features part two of a conversation with social psychologist Sheldon Solomon who offers a unique perspective on our polarized country that goes beyond the standard political, social, historical, and economic explanations.

Today's episode features a conversation between Peter and Dr. Sheldon Solomon, a professor from Skidmore College. Dr. Solomon and Peter talk about his role in founding research of Terror Management Theory, perspectives of his career, and a rapid fire closing questionnaire.

How can we get a better understanding of the divisions in our society? This episode features a conversation with social psychologist Sheldon Solomon who offers a unique perspective on our polarized country that goes beyond the standard political, social, historical, and economic explanations.

In the final episode, professor of psychology Sheldon Solomon, Depop's head of sustainability Justine Porterie, The Fabricant's head of content and strategy Michaela Larosse and Chloé's chief sustainability officer Aude Vergne join retail futurist Doug Stephens to explore how evolving consumer preferences are shaping purchasing decisions. In this final episode of Retail Reborn, we explore the future consumer's preferences and needs, and how this is shaping their purchasing decisions, from the V-shaped recovery of the personal luxury goods industry in 2021 to the renewed verve in, and take on, the experiential economy as the world reopened post-global lockdowns. “It's worthwhile to question the extent to which some of the changes we are witnessing are truly indicative of longer-term shifts in behaviour, or an almost primally motivated response to the profound medical threat of the pandemic, not to mention the social, political and economic unrest that it has unleashed,” says podcast host and retail futurist Doug Stephens. The conversation examines human behaviour and the effects the pandemic might have played in the mindsets of young consumers, before discussing evolving attitudes towards ownership, the rise of responsible goods and sustainability in a luxury fashion house and the resale market — an industry expected to nearly triple by 2025. Finally, we explore virtual technology's presence in consumption preferences, from the evolution of sampling processes to the increased interest in digital products. Indeed, the metaverse is projected to provide a $50 billion revenue opportunity for luxury by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley, and the first Metaverse Virtual Fashion Week took place last month. To break down what consumers will buy, four global experts share their insights and expertise with host Doug Stephens. Listen to all episodes of Retail Reborn Season 2 on the BoF Podcast, to discover actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges the consumer of tomorrow will bring. Brookfield Properties is building marketplaces of the future that meet the needs of the modern shopper. Discover more.

In the final episode, professor of psychology Sheldon Solomon, Depop's head of sustainability Justine Porterie, The Fabricant's head of content and strategy Michaela Larosse and Chloé's chief sustainability officer Aude Vergne join retail futurist Doug Stephens to explore how evolving consumer preferences are shaping purchasing decisions. In this final episode of Retail Reborn, we explore the future consumer's preferences and needs, and how this is shaping their purchasing decisions, from the V-shaped recovery of the personal luxury goods industry in 2021 to the renewed verve in, and take on, the experiential economy as the world reopened post-global lockdowns. “It's worthwhile to question the extent to which some of the changes we are witnessing are truly indicative of longer-term shifts in behaviour, or an almost primally motivated response to the profound medical threat of the pandemic, not to mention the social, political and economic unrest that it has unleashed,” says podcast host and retail futurist Doug Stephens. The conversation examines human behaviour and the effects the pandemic might have played in the mindsets of young consumers, before discussing evolving attitudes towards ownership, the rise of responsible goods and sustainability in a luxury fashion house and the resale market — an industry expected to nearly triple by 2025. Finally, we explore virtual technology's presence in consumption preferences, from the evolution of sampling processes to the increased interest in digital products. Indeed, the metaverse is projected to provide a $50 billion revenue opportunity for luxury by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley, and the first Metaverse Virtual Fashion Week took place last month. To break down what consumers will buy, four global experts share their insights and expertise with host Doug Stephens. Listen to all episodes of Retail Reborn Season 2 on the BoF Podcast, to discover actionable insights into the opportunities and challenges the consumer of tomorrow will bring. Brookfield Properties is building marketplaces of the future that meet the needs of the modern shopper. Discover more.

Sheldon Solomon explores how humans manage the terror of death, and the larger implications of this quest for immortality via death denial.  Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32056]

Sheldon Solomon explores how humans manage the terror of death, and the larger implications of this quest for immortality via death denial.  Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32056]

Sheldon Solomon explores how humans manage the terror of death, and the larger implications of this quest for immortality via death denial.  Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32056]

Sheldon Solomon explores how humans manage the terror of death, and the larger implications of this quest for immortality via death denial.  Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32056]

In this episode Tisa discusses Value and Dr Sheldon Solomon.

Mike Isaacson: Of course you're gonna be replaced. No one lives forever. [Theme song] Nazi SS UFOsLizards wearing human clothesHinduism's secret codesThese are nazi lies Race and IQ are in genesWarfare keeps the nation cleanWhiteness is an AIDS vaccineThese are nazi lies Hollow earth, white genocideMuslim's rampant femicideShooting suspects named Sam HydeHiter lived and no Jews died Army, navy, and the copsSecret service, special opsThey protect us, not sweatshopsThese are nazi lies Mike: Hello and welcome to another episode of The Nazi Lies Podcast. Subscribe to our Patreon to join our book club. This should be an interesting episode. I've got Dr. Michael Cholbi with me. He's chair in philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and editor of the volume Immortality and the Philosophy of Death. He's joining me to discuss Replacement theory. Welcome to the podcast, Dr. Cholbi. Michael Cholbi: Thanks very much, I really appreciate the invitation. Mike: All right, so before we get too deep into the philosophy, talk a bit about what you study and how it contributes to the human experience. Michael: Well, I'm a philosopher, and I specialize in particular in ethics. Within ethics, much of my research addresses philosophical issues, ethical issues, related to death and mortality. Some of the issues that I have written on include things like suicide and assisted dying, the desirability of immortality, the rationality of attitudes such as fear toward death, and most recently, working a significant bit on philosophical questions related to grief and bereavement. In terms of what I think it contributes to the human experience--well, I hope it contributes something to the experience--I do think that it's probably the case that even if non-human creatures have some understanding of death, some inchoate understanding of death, we human beings learn at a pretty early age about death, and we learn at a pretty early age as well, that death is ultimately unavoidable. We learn that every creature that we have ever known, every creature that ever will exist including ourselves, does die eventually. And I think as a consequence of that, we have to live our lives in light of that fact. It seems to be pretty clear that our attitudes about death and mortality impact a lot of how we approach the world, what our attitudes are, what our aspirations are. So I'd like to think that philosophy of death or dying is a subject that is relevant to people not because of, you know, their being a member of a profession, or because they come from a certain part of the world or whatever it might be, but simply because they're human and they are aware of the fact of their mortality. I think we all grapple with it, and I think that philosophy has some particular tools or methods that can help people grapple with it in a helpful way. Mike: Now, the reason I wanted to have you on is because I think replacement theory sort of revolves around a fear of death or an inability to grapple with one's own mortality. So there's this idea of being replaced, it's obviously fundamental to the theory itself, and I think this relates to the idea of the first part of your book, “Is death bad for those that die?” I think that replacement theory would answer in the affirmative, and probably most people, though less frantically. So what do philosophers have to say on this question? Does anyone say no? Michael: Well, I actually think there's a pretty significant contingent, right, of philosophers in different traditions who don't think that death is bad for the person who dies, or at least isn't bad necessarily. And I think that those who hold that view fall into several different categories. One category are those philosophers who believed in the afterlife. A significant number of philosophers have worked in Christian and Islamic traditions and of course, according to those traditions, death is not really the end of us; it's more like a transition for us in that we change from being mortal embodied living creatures to being immortal creatures. Not all of the thinkers who believe in afterlife have believed in what we would think of as religions in the usual sense. Socrates famously argued that his death was not going to be bad for him because this was his opportunity to be released from his body and to become acquainted with the eternal and unchanging forms that he believed are the source of all knowledge. Another school of thought that has denied that death is bad for us were the Epicureans and they have their contemporary defenders. Epicurean philosophers believe that death is neither good nor bad for us. Their famous slogan is "Death's nothing to us," and their point of view is that death is the end of us. We don't survive it. There's no afterlife. And because we don't survive it, we don't experience anything bad, there's nothing to be bad about death, and we simply don't exist. So in their view, death is neither bad nor good. Then there's a third school of thought that's a bit more contemporary. Most philosophers who adopt this school of thought would call themselves Deprivationists or Comparativists, and roughly the idea is something like this, that your death can be bad for you, and the way it can be bad for you is that if you die at a particular point in time, then had you not died at that time you would have lived longer, and had you lived longer, there's the possibility that you would have had a better life overall. So were I to die today then that means I would not survive longer, and perhaps had I survived longer, I would have had the opportunity to have a better life, a happier, more fulfilling life, to say. So there's certainly been many schools of philosophical thought, many philosophers, that have thought that death is not bad for us, or at least not necessarily bad for us, I should say. That said, I think it's been one of the sort of perennial questions in philosophy and there are a good number of people on the other side of the ledger who think that there's something deeply terrible about death just insofar as it represents the kind of destruction of our consciousness or of our subjectivity. It's bad simply insofar as it represents the cessation of the existence of the only thing that each of us can really say that we know or count on–ourselves. And maybe that's bad enough to make death bad. Mike: This kind of gets us into the next topic I want to get into. One of the topics that comes up in your book is the idea of life as a narrative arc that concludes with your death. And it seems like that is roundly refuted but it still feels compelling. It forms the basis of most action, adventure, sci fi, fantasy, etc, stories. And it kind of implies destiny, which is something crucial to replacement theory. Even the Comparative approach touched on in the first part of the book takes for granted one's destiny that we compare, you know, beyond one's ultimate death, or one's untimely death. Replacement theory kind of takes this narrative arc story of an individual life and puts it at the meta level with the grand narrative of the nation. So, how do philosophers take on this idea of life as a story, presumably that concludes with one's death? Michael: Well, I certainly think that outside of philosophy and say psychology, we see an abundance of evidence that perhaps one of the defining features of human beings is that we're storytellers, right? We tell stories about ourselves, about other people, about our communities. And it's certainly possible to look at one's life as a narrative, as a kind of story. There are philosophers who have denied that this is sort of essential to us. There's a living philosopher now named Galen Strawson who has essentially said that, or at least from his point of view, he lives his life as a series of disconnected episodes as if there's sort of no narrative, unity, or structure to them at all. And of course, there's also the possibility that we tell stories about our lives or craft narratives about our lives that turn out to be false or incoherent or really don't make any sense. I don't think necessarily that the notion that we view our lives as narratives and our lives as narratives implies destiny. In fact, I think a lot of what people are attempting to do in the course of their lives is to try to craft a life that corresponds to a certain story. So, perhaps you have a life where a certain kind of adversity was present early on in life, but one of the central things that you tried to do was to overcome that adversity, and by the end of your life, it's clear that you had overcome that adversity. That's a pretty common trope in the stories that people aspire to create for their lives. I think at the collective level-- and that seems to be really what sort of Nazi replacements theory is operating at a sort of meta level as you said-- you know, the notion that we aspire to tell stories about ourselves that connect us with others, and in particular connect us with others who will continue to exist after we are gone is a very powerful human equation. I think certainly, many people when they think about what they want out of their lives, they want in some ways their lives to transcend their own biographies, right, to have a legacy, to leave an impact in the world, to improve life for the next generation. In fact there's a philosopher recently, Samuel Scheffler, who has kind of coined this idea of the "collective afterlife" that much of what we do and care about, when we sit back and reflect upon it, seems to assume that there will be people who will exist after we're gone. So if you're a cancer researcher, and you were to learn that in the days after your death the entire earth and the whole human species were to be destroyed by an asteroid, Schaeffler says that would probably change your goals, right? You wouldn't think that curing cancer was so important a goal. So I think it's pretty baked in. I think, to human nature to be able to view our lives as stories, to want our stories to interconnect with other people, other members of our family, our community our nation, our religion. It's actually a very commonplace feature of human life that we struggle with death, and one of the ways that we try to address that struggle, I think, is by crafting a narrative that transcends ourselves as individuals. Mike: All right. So your book ends with a part on immortality, which I think is also important for Replacement theory. This idea that you will somehow live on through your nation or your race or your genes or whatever. It seems like a mystical way of achieving immortality. So, historically philosophically, how do people seek to attain immortality? How does it color the way we navigate the world? Michael: Well, I mean  in some ways I would say that the desire for a kind of immortality that is symbolic, as some people have said, a kind of immortality that doesn't involve literally surviving as an individual, but a kind of immortality that consists in having a legacy or leaving an impact on the world. That kind of immortality is, in some sense, less mystical than in certain other ways of thinking about immortality. I suppose the most mystical or most puzzling is one that I was referring to earlier in our conversation, you know, the notion of an afterlife. It does seem to be on its face puzzling how we can die and be entirely completely dead and yet somehow survive that and come out on the other side, so to speak. But certainly, the various narratives of the afterlife are one of the ways that people have thought they could attain immortality. Another, of course, is what we've been calling legacy through family, culture, religion, nation, and so forth. And a third one-- and this is the one I suppose that sometimes people forget about-- is that you could conceivably attain immortality simply by not dying. [laughs] So you know, if you were to be able to find the proverbial fountain of youth, that would give you eternal life rather than some post mortem immortal life, that'd be a kind of immortality too. I think in terms of the place that thinking about mortality has in human life, you know, there's a school of psychologists led by Sheldon Solomon who put forward something called terror management theory. And as the name suggests, what terror management theory is about is the idea that we human beings are aware of our deaths, and we either find this completely incomprehensible that we could die, or we find it completely terrifying, and either way, we adopt certain strategies, perhaps subconscious or unconscious strategies, to try to manage or address that anxiety. In this respect, the terror management theorists are following upon the work of an anthropologist's writing in the 1970s named Ernest Becker, he wrote a famous book called The Denial of Death. But the terror management theorists in effect say to us, "Well, many of us work very hard to either deny that we die. I suppose that could be one way of looking at belief in the afterlife as kind of the assertion that we simply don't die really. Or we try to live our lives in such a way that we're kind of reassured by the prospect that even if we do die, things that we care about continue, right? Our institutions that we're allied with, the community that we live in, our families, sports clubs that we root for, all of those kinds of things may continue to exist. And that gives us a kind of immortality that's not sort of metaphysical, right? It's not where you actually continue to exist, but I suppose you could call it a symbolic or ethical immortality." But again, I think that I agree with the terror management theorists that somewhere deep in most of our consciousness is the awareness of the fact of our death, and it probably has a huge influence on how we behave individually. It's probably responsible for many of the principal features of human culture. Anthropologists have observed that pretty much every culture that has ever been studied has beliefs and rituals surrounding death, right? [laughs] That's like the starting point for anthropologist's study of the world. So yes, definitely immortality, or striving for immortality, is a way to wrestle or grapple with a mortality that I think we all come to appreciate early on in life. Mike: So, replacement theory has been around for a while although it didn't really have a formal name as a theory until the Christchurch shooter wrote his manifesto, The Great Replacement. One thing I found interesting about the manifesto was the statistic he chooses to focus on. So fascists, racists, xenophobes, they generally appeal to a variety of statistics—racial crime statistics, racial population demographics, not very often racial immigration rates. But the Christchurch shooter chose to focus on racial birth rates. For him, death is the birth of the Other. There's this fear of being bred out. For fascists, there's a sort of philosophical underpinning to this. It has to do with how they view the life and the nation. They consider the nation or identity or whatever, to be literally a living organism or super organism. This implies all the normal things about life–the power of decision making, a lifecycle, etc. For fascists, the nation is a living thing with the state as its power of cognition. This is very similar to one thing we discussed on a previous episode, The Great Chain of Being, this idea that a kingdom is a living organism with the king is the head, and various classes of society as various body parts. So whereas The Great Chain of Being is held together by divine right, fascism is held together by kinship, yielding culture, civilization, politics, economics, etc. This kinship is a unifying force that fuses individuals into an organic nation. And like all living beings, a nation is born; it has a youth, it has a maturation, a frail old age, and an eventual death. Now, fundamentally this comes from a fascist obsession with the organic and applying pseudo-biological models to everything. Anyway, here's my question. How does death shape the way we view non-living phenomena? Michael: Hm. That's the toughest question you've asked me. When we're thinking about non-living phenomenon, are we thinking about just sort of matter? [laughs] Mike: One example you can think of may be like the way that we think of when a computer breaks down, it dies. You know? But also like the idea that a nation in decline is dying or things like that. Michael: Okay, I see. So death as a sort of metaphor for nonliving things, things that can't in some literal sense die. Good. Okay. Again, I think in some ways this goes back to storytelling. There is this well observed psychological tendency we have to attribute agency, personhood, to things that our better selves know aren't agents and don't have personhood. You know, your cell phone breaks down, your cell phone dies on you-- noticed how I used that word dies-- we tend to personify it, right? We sort of think of it as something like an organism. Now, part of that, of course, is simply that thinking of things as having agency, as being person-like, is one of the ways that we try to conceptualize the world around us. And of course, this has some limitations. Sometimes I think you could say that perhaps certain advances in science have been impeded because we have some difficulty in understanding the prospect that events can happen without there being a storyteller or something sort of behind these events that instigates them or chooses them. This is kind of the basis for the infamous argument for God's existence, the argument from design that the world seems so orderly and harmonious in certain sorts of ways. And so this argument tries to infer that that order, that harmoniousness had to have been willed into existence by a god, right? By some sort of divinity. It's certainly, I think, an instinct we have to personify other beings even when they're not persons, to treat them as agents even when they're not agents. I suppose that there's a kind of distortion there as at root in thinking about collective entities as if they are organisms. They're not organisms. And you're certainly right that there's something perhaps misguided about the Nazi replacement theory insofar as it thinks of society as a kind of organism that has these parts that can be healthy or diseased. And I suppose that part of the Nazi ideology has been to try to extirpate the diseased parts in order to preserve and maintain the healthy parts. I'm not sure it's the metaphor that's the problem, but perhaps the particular construal ofit that the Nazi ideology gives, that societies are collectivities or organisms that have these parts that thrive or can be unhealthy on their own. Mike: Okay so there was one article in the volume that at least one review I read took exception to. So the article in question is titled “Constructing Death as a Form of Failure: Addressing Mortality in a Neoliberal Age.” Now I won't make you rehash someone else's article. But I do want to talk about kind of the underriding theme of this article which is the idea that social values shape the way we conceptualize death. So how do social values shape the way we conceptualize death? Michael: I think that particular article was emphasizing a certain way in which contemporary societies sometimes seem to understand death. That death is a sort of failure and that we should attempt to extirpate it, eliminate it if we can, or delay it as long as possible. I mean, certainly many people as they face death, as they become ill and their days become short, some people--not all--do seem to think that their deaths would amount to a kind of failure. Even some physicians have difficulty letting go of the idea that a patient who dies is a patient that they have failed. But I think that's an indication of a sort of broader phenomenon and a broader reality where societies certainly do have values that invite certain interpretations or understandings of the significance of death. Just to give a sort of stark contrast, societies like ours that suppose often that the best sort of life is one that is very productive, where you have a lot of accomplishments, where you enjoy the various kinds of successes and various kinds of material goods. Well, death then looks like the end of all that, and that looks to be a misfortune. Conversely, if one looks at societies or cultures that have a much more communitarian or perhaps cyclical picture of the human condition, they don't necessarily seem to view death as the end of something good or a kind of failure. They view it as a fact that we need to reconcile ourselves to, because again we do eventually die. So I certainly think that our attitudes toward death have very rich logical and evidential interconnections with other things that we care about. And it certainly seems to be that with respect to the theme of your podcast, the Nazi belief system views deaths of white people or white culture or white civilizations as a profound loss, because of course the background ideology is one where those groups or those individuals are supposed to sort of be eternal to reign supreme. And so it's unsurprising then that they would view death as such a detrimental blow to them. Mike: All right. Now obviously, you didn't compile this book as a metaphor for replacement theory. So what do you hope that people get out of your book? Michael: Well, there's of course a collection of articles by a number of scholars--only one of the articles is by me--but I think that what this book can offer people is a richer understanding of two distinct questions that nevertheless interlock or overlap, if you will. So the first question that the book addresses is really the first question you asked about today; is death bad for us? Should we think that it's a bad thing? I think there's a diversity of opinions about this as I mentioned. There are certainly philosophical traditions that have thought that death is bad for us, others that have thought that it isn't bad in fact it's neither good nor bad. Others sort of thought that it may be bad depending upon sort of the circumstances of your death and the circumstances of your life. So I'm hoping that people will garner a more robust understanding of why that's an interesting question and the different ways that philosophers might answer it, and the kinds of arguments they give for their positions. Now, the other question that I think people will gain some insight about is the question of whether immortality would be good for us. It's natural to think that if death is bad for us then it would have to follow that the absence of death, which is to say immortality, would be good for us. But many philosophers have been skeptical about that too. [laughs] They've sort of argued that we're simply not built to be immortal, we would ultimately find the life of an immortal boring and tedious. We would end up like the immortal gods of Greek and Roman mythology where all they seemed to do with their days is sort of meddle in the lives of mortals and create mischief. Others have thought that this would amount to such a distortion of our values, you know, certain kinds of things that we care about in our mortal lives. They wouldn't be sustainable if we were immortal, right? I mean, what would it mean to marry someone, you know, to use that language "till death do us part" if death never comes? [laughs] Would we still value our romantic relationships in the same way? That's just one example where people have wondered whether immortality would in fact alter our values beyond recognition. But I guess what I'm hoping people will see in the book is that those two questions about the value of death and particularly whether it's bad, and on the other hand whether immortality would be good, are both independently interesting, but also, I think, interesting jointly. Because the question of the value of immortality arises very naturally if you believe that in fact death is bad for us. Mike: Okay. Well, Dr. Cholbi, thanks so much for coming on to The Nazi Lies Podcast to talk about death and replacement theory. The book again is Immortality and the Philosophy of Death out from Rowman and Littlefield. Thanks again. Michael: Thank you. It was really a pleasure to talk to you. Mike: If you want to be an upcoming guest with us, join The Nazi Lies Book Club on Patreon. Patrons get access to the Discord server where we host the book club and occasionally share Animal Crossing memes. Patrons also get a bundle of merch for signing up, access to The Nazi Lies Calendar, and advance show notes, transcripts and episodes. See you on the Discord! [Theme song]

What were some of the important ideas from 2021? This episode, sums up some of the most thought-provoking ideas from our guests, who included Jack Moscou, Lyla Rothschild, Henry Richards, Jerry Piven, Pelin Kesebir, Dan Liechty, Sheldon Solomon, Merlyn Mowrey, and Tomi-Ann Roberts.

Kathryn is a life coach who helps over-thinkers, self-critics, and deeply thoughtful humans to let go of self-judgement without bypassing their feelings or current reality, and helps them to live life more on their own terms. I met Kathryn in a group coaching programme and was drawn to how comfortable she seemed with sitting in discomfort… I watched as she took the space and time she needed and - something I still struggle with even though I've been working on for what feels like forever! - didn't feel compelled to fill space with words! It came as no surprise, then, when she told me she's all about sitting in discomfort, and that there's no need for ‘positive thinking' when you're around her. How refreshing is that! KATHRYN'S LINKS Website Instagram OTHER LINKS Depression as an adaptive response: The Depths: The Evolutionary Origins of the Depression Epidemic, by Jonathan Rottenberg Terror Mangement Theory (Managing Death Anxiety):The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life, by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski Water turns to steam:Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living, by Pema Chödrön That culture is the air we breathe: Untamed, by Glennon Doyle Holding our fears behind our back: Already Free: Buddhism Meets Psychotherapy on the Path of Liberation, by Bruce Tift Your early thirties as a period of settling + community finding: Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes by William Bridges EPISODE NOTES 4:32 - Getting comfortable with discomfort 5:51 - Journey with depression - value, curiosity and lessons 7:39 - Depression as a biological and adaptive response. Book ref, The Depths by Jonathan Rotenburg. What does depression tell us? 9:44 - How depression goes against the grain of societal expectations of a human, and the result of that. 12:21 - Personal significance, belonging/not belonging, feeling special. 14:44 - Terror management theory - humans are the only beings who are aware of their own death, and how we manage that by living beyond ourselves through culture, society and the greater good. 19:32 - Navigating significance, purpose, community, connection and contribution in the face of depression, disconnection, existentialism, removal of cultural meaning. 23:17 - Not fighting; taking a moment to experience, sit in discomfort and learn from your experience. Making sense and exploring the ‘why'. Finding comfort in the knowledge that your experience is a totally understandable and natural response. 23:59 - The cost/benefit of adaptive responses in different/changing environments. 31:23 - The anti-climax that comes from expecting there to be ‘a moment' “when water turns into steam” and how healing has evolved to mean almost nothing about the direct symptoms of my chronic illness. 34:31 - Do we substitute the word ‘healed' for ‘perfect'. Healing doesn't = a lack or an absence. It's a deepening understanding of yourself, how you want to be and ultimately, living. 40:22 - communication, understanding, meaning 42:38 - Communicating a ‘non-mainstream' way of living with your chronic illness with those around you, feeling shame around your chronic illness, and not piling shame upon shame. 49:24 - Depression as an amplifier and playing with integration.

This week on "Death in The Garden," Jake and Maren share their interview with experimental psychologist, professor, and author, Sheldon Solomon. This episode was recorded in May of 2021, but was always a seminal piece for our project: we talk about how death denying delusions are running rampant in modern culture, how the blind belief in the inevitability of progress is taking us down a dark road, and how the acceptance and awareness of our mortality can help us turn our attention to the vistas of awe and enchantment necessary to create the more beautiful world we all want to live in.  Please subscribe to our Substack to get writing accompaniments to this podcast and more, as well as a deep dive into our thoughts at the moment delivered right to your email. Check out our Patreon and become a patron for as little as $1 per month.  Be sure to check out Ernest Becker's book, The Denial of Death and Sheldon's book, The Worm at The Core. Editing: Parker Burningham Outro music: "Parting of the Sensory" by Modest Mouse

Ethan Warren, film critic and editor for the online film journal Bright Wall/Dark Room discusses his 2018 article “I Can Whistle With That: What the Stories of 2018 Show Us About Responding to Despair,” which tries to grapple with our current moment of anxiety, apocalypse, and despair and the ways that seeps into our cultural entertainment. He explains how this concept of despair was appropriate for 2018, but may have evolved since then into feelings of formless anger and longing, as well as what that means for the entertainment of 2021 and 2022. Warren also discusses his upcoming book The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha, as well as where Anderson fits into it all. Terror Management Theory originates in the book The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszcynski. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/riversidechats/message

Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Along with his colleagues Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, he wrote 'The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life', a book which examines how humans deal with their own sense of mortality. Inspired by the work of the cultural anthropologist, Ernest Becker, Sheldon has been working for many years to understand how the uniquely human awareness of mortality motivates every individual and societal action. Don't forget to like and subscribe! 'The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life' - https://www.amazon.com.au/Worm-Core-Role-Death-Life/dp/1400067472 Julius Killerby's Website - https://juliuskillerby.com

Today our anxiety is caused by death. I spoke with psychology professor Sheldon Solomon who studies how death anxiety affects the living. It turns out death anxiety causes us to put up walls, fear perceived others and unfortunately violence.  If you're liking the show and want to support it, feel free to buy me a coffee!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/givesmeanxietyCheck out the show on all of your favorite social platforms.https://twitter.com/GivesanxietyPodhttps://www.facebook.com/thatgivesmeanxietypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/thatgivesmeanxietypodcast/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCOITNlRi_K7JP9QxBK-vQSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/givesmeanxiety)

This month is the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The nation continues to wrestle with the traumatic effects these many years later. In this podcast we unpack the psychology with Tom Pyszczynski, co-author with Sheldon Solomon and Jeff Greenberg of In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror. In this book the authors analyze reactions to the attacks through the lens of terror management theory, an existential psychological model that explains why humans react the way they do to the threat of death and how this reaction influences their post-threat cognition and emotion. This is also manifest in evangelicals in the shift in their post-9/11 perspectives on Muslims, as well as in their reactions to those perceived as promoting syncretism, such as Rev. David Benke, and Larycia Hawkins. 

How can focusing on death improve our lives and the world around us? This episode discusses death reflection, mindfulness, meditation, what is called the death-positive movement, and related topics. It features an interview with Dr. Sheldon Solomon social psychologist at Skidmore College.

Sheldon Soloman is a professor of psychology from Skidmore College, in New York. Sheldon and his colleagues study death. Specifically how being reminded of our own mortality can affect our behavior. Let's just say it doesn't make us more open minded. Want to support the show? Feel free to buy me a coffee!https://www.buymeacoffee.com/deathspaceCheck the show out on your favorite social platforms!https://twitter.com/DeathSpacePodhttps://www.facebook.com/Death-Space-Podcast-107080187930028https://www.instagram.com/deathspacepodcast/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG8kzR8y0p-yQe3WTbdLsBASupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/deathspace)

How do we improve our lives and our society by practicing humility? This episode discusses humility: its many aspects, and ways it offers hope for the future. It features an interview with social psychologist Pelin Kesebir honorary fellow at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In this episode I interview (have a conversation with) Dr. Sheldon Solomon PhD. He was a college professor already in the year I graduated from High School in 1980 (if that tells you anything!). An interesting fun fact that Dr. Solomon claims for himself in relation to Skidmore: "I have been here longer than most of the buildings and furniture!" Good laughs and some serious reflections happen in this interview. I am rating this episode "explicit" because of the intensity of the content and for the occasional "f" bomb that was dropped. I'm good with it, but just wanted you, my listeners, to know. I think some pretty deep discussion was had here - and this is a place where we need to go as a culture. I thank Dr. Solomon for leading us there. A book he referred to in our conversation was Rollo May's The Cry for Myth. Please check out the movie "UNFIT" on Amazon Prime in which Dr. Solomon has a pretty significant part. Also, links below are for Dr. Solomon's book, Worm at the Core, on the role of death in life, written with two of his colleagues. Below are links to the book and to Dr. Solomon's page at Skidmore College. Thanks for listening and for not letting your but(t) get in the way! Worm at the Core Link to Amazon. Professor Solomon Link to Skidmore College.

Sheldon's latest book https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/170217/the-worm-at-the-core-by-sheldon-solomon-jeff-greenberg-and-tom-pyszczynski/To support the show please donate a few dollars to paypal.me/psych360

00:00 The best looking Cabinet secretary is 61! 04:00 Grievance, rebellion and burnt bridges: Tracing Josh Hawley's path to the insurrection, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/11/senator-josh-hawley/ 06:00 The Age of Pelagius, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=139261 11:00 Jesse Watters: The true origin of COVID, https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/jesse-watters-the-true-origin-of-covid 19:00 Are breathing techniques good for your health?, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/12/are-breathing-techniques-good-for-your-health 21:00 Improve oxygen uptake in the blood - Patrick McKeown, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hga_6I7u0_A 22:00 My commentary on breathing techniques, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=139252 25:40 BMJ study on the Alexander Technique, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXmimtk381U 37:30 The Alexander Technique: First Lesson, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgplXmILzoQ 48:00 Rob Henderson watches The Shield, https://twitter.com/robkhenderson/status/1391521499513823233 49:00 All hail The Shield - the scuzzy forgotten classic of TV's golden age, https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/apr/30/all-hail-the-shield-the-scuzzy-forgotten-classic-of-tvs-golden-age 52:30 Saagar Enjeti: New Details REVEAL Fauci, Media Coverup Of Lab Leak Hypothesis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pk0wLN5uuU 59:45 Richard Spencer on Conservative Anti-Capitalism, https://youtu.be/USe_yL64uPw?t=825 1:02:00 Affordable Family Formation, https://statmodeling.stat.columbia.edu/2008/11/06/affordable_fami/ 1:09:00 Rand Paul vs Anthony Fauci 1:11:40 Rick Wiles Says ‘The American People Are Being Oppressed by Jewish Tyrants', https://vimeo.com/546506402 1:22:20 The Pelagian Controversy, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8-NBgDQ1_Q 1:25:50 Jim Goad: Does whiteness exist? https://www.bitchute.com/video/GjifQib48j3l/ 1:27:30 Tribalism for everyone or for no one 1:30:00 Abysspilled Norman Finkelstein destroys your hopes and dreams 1:32:00 Kenneth Brown on nationalism, https://youtu.be/MY-3ekOEOs8 2:09:40 How and Why Did Judaism Survive? An Answer to Mark Twain, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9364pNlpQLg 2:37:00 Origins of Covid-19 2:42:00 Drag queen says keep kids away from drag shows 2:47:40 FAUCI ADMITS FUNDING PLA BIOWARFARE RESEARCH LAB IN WUHAN, https://www.bitchute.com/video/7SoIJ5qJ83q0/ 3:00:20 Violence erupts between Israelis and Palestinians 3:03:15 E. Michael Jones says Israel wants to rebuild the Temple, https://www.bitchute.com/video/2FoXyBabNVO5/ 3:05:30 JF Gariepy on Palestinians vs Israel, https://odysee.com/@JFGTonight:0/jfgt196:4 3:10:45 Tucker Carlson on Joe Biden's economy How Much Do American Jews Care About Israel?, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=139235 3:18:10 Michael Moore Presents: Planet of the Humans, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE&t=2949s 3:19:00 Sheldon Solomon on culturally constructed belief systems 3:21:30 Barricade Gage says there's no gas shortage Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSFVD7Xfhn7sJY8LAIQmH8Q/join https://odysee.com/@LukeFordLive, https://lbry.tv/@LukeFord, https://rumble.com/lukeford https://dlive.tv/lukefordlivestreams Listener Call In #: 1-310-997-4596 Superchat: https://entropystream.live/app/lukefordlive Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/lukeford/ Soundcloud MP3s: https://soundcloud.com/luke-ford-666431593 Code of Conduct: https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=125692 https://www.patreon.com/lukeford http://lukeford.net Email me: lukeisback@gmail.com or DM me on Twitter.com/lukeford Support the show | https://www.streamlabs.com/lukeford, https://patreon.com/lukeford, https://PayPal.Me/lukeisback Facebook: http://facebook.com/lukecford Feel free to clip my videos. It's nice when you link back to the original.

How do we improve our lives and our society through a better understanding of political fantasy and illusion? This episode discusses rationalization, decision making, our society, and possibilities for hope. It features an interview with psychologist Jerry Piven who teaches in the Department of Philosophy atRutgers University.

Sheldon Solomon is one of the co-developers of Terror Management Theory, and a co-author of the book The Worm at the Core: On the role of Death in Life, in this episode we discuss mortality, death anxiety and the meaning of life in relation to death. Become part of the Hermitix community: Hermitix Twitter Hermitix Discord Support Hermitix: Subscribe Hermitix Patreon Hermitix Merchandise One off Donations at Ko-Fi Hermitix Twitter Bitcoin Donation Address: 3LAGEKBXEuE2pgc4oubExGTWtrKPuXDDLK Ethereum Donation Address: 0xfd2bbe86d6070004b9Cbf682aB2F25170046A996

Sheldon Solomon is one of the co-developers of Terror Management Theory, and a co-author of the book The Worm at the Core: On the role of Death in Life, in this episode we discuss mortality, death anxiety and the meaning of life in relation to death. Become part of the Hermitix community: Hermitix Twitter Hermitix Discord Support Hermitix: Subscribe Hermitix Patreon Hermitix Merchandise One off Donations at Ko-Fi Hermitix Twitter Bitcoin Donation Address: 3LAGEKBXEuE2pgc4oubExGTWtrKPuXDDLK Ethereum Donation Address: 0xfd2bbe86d6070004b9Cbf682aB2F25170046A996

Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College. He is best known for developing terror management theory along with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, which is concerned with how humans deal with their own sense of mortality. He studies the effects of the uniquely human awareness of death on human behaviors. He is co-author of several books, including the one we’ll be discussing today – The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. I was initially drawn to Prof. Solomon’s work because I listened to a three-hour long podcast interview between him and Lex Fridman. It was the most enlightening podcast I had listened to on the Lex Fridman Show, without exaggeration. That was a few months ago during a time when I was very confused and stressed. I was working nonstop every day and deciding between whether to pursue an economics PhD or go into the “real world” to work for a few years first before reassessing. Prof. Solomon’s ideas from taking a leap of faith in life to confronting the possibility of death were truly profound and changed a lot of my thinking back then.

Sheldon Solomon, a social psychologist and professor of psychology at Skidmore College will address a variety of topics concerning how our fear of death haunts us like nothing else. Video Link

Professor of Psychology Sheldon Solomon converses with Tim on a subject very few of us contemplate: death. Both share a keen interest in the topic. Here they share their combined interests on the concept from a deeply important scientific and philosophic angle, as well as the incredibly practical implications this has for business and personal performance in living and leading in life.  Get after it team! and thank you so much for the support.   

The identification of the ego with power structures greater than itself, raises a whole host of questions around ego identity as healthy vs unhealthy; around tribal identity and tribalism and its transformation with the emergence of civilization. What role does mythology play relative to this complex set of issues? What about the psychology activated when confronting civilizational collapse? Are there psychologies that recognize consciousness beyond that of the conventional ego? References Civilizational collapse gets named on a few occasions, explicitly citing Jared Diamond as best-known example. Joseph Tainter, 1988, “The collapse of complex societies”, is perhaps “the classic” that begins a subfield of study on the theme. Jared Diamond's book is from 2005: “Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed” Reference is made in this episode to conventional psychologies of the ego wherein health means well-adapted to society, over against more radical or spiritual psychologies that see the ego itself as the problem and society as problematic enough such that being adapted to it is unhealthy. Arguably, the whole psychodynamic tradition, from Freud to Jung as its founders, right up the whole field of “transpersonal psychology”, plays on the conventional/spiritual distinction. (See, for example, Freud's "Civilization and its discontents" (1930) from which this episode derives its title. ) Norman O. Brown brilliantly explored within psychoanalysis some of these themes in his works “Life against death: The psychoanalytical meaning of history” (1959) and “Love's Body” (1966) An example of that distinction (overt in the title already) is by Daniel Brown, Jack Engler, and Ken Wilber, 1986, “Transformations of Consciousness: Conventional and Contemplative Perspectives on Development” A favorite psychologist of mine (i.e. Chris) who articulates the notion of being "positively maladjusted" to unhealthy society, alongside the theme of ego-death or “disintegration” as potentially positive is Kazimierz Dabrowski (“Positive disintegration”, 1964). See the website https://positivedisintegration.com/ Terror-management theory also gets mentioned: for this theory, see Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski, 2015, “The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life”. https://ernestbecker.org/resources/terror-management-theory/

Second part of the interview where we investigate how the awareness of death influences our erratic behavior and can make us both better or worse human beings.. Prof. Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist at Skidmore College, and his research is exactly on this topic. In the podcast, I investigate the question"who or what are we?" with 20 different people, encouraging you to think on things yourself. For more: 20angles.com

Prof. Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist at Skidmore College. His research focuses on our awareness of our own death, and how (the denial of) it makes us cling to cultural abstractions, guide or behaviour or vote for testosterone infused primates (you know whom I'm referring to). In the podcast, I investigate the question "who or what are we?" with 20 different people, encouraging you to think on things yourself. For more: 20angles.com

On episode 75 we welcome social psychologist and co-developer of Terror-Management Theory Sheldon Solomon to discuss his original research, which supported his hypothesis of death anxiety being at the core of most of our aggressive and selfish behaviors; how awareness of our mortality tends to make us more tribal and nationalistic; the backlash he and his colleagues received from academia when they presented TMT and why they decided to continue to explore its merits; how individual self-esteem is used to help us repress our collective terror of dying; the link between death anxiety and the subsequent creation of cultural values and beliefs; and how we can begin to tackle the problem of political polarization and the factors sustaining it. Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist, a philosopher, co-developer of Terror Management Theory, co-author of The Worm at the Core : On the Role of Death in Life Sheldon's Website: https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/f... The Worm at the Core (book): https://amzn.to/31hQAXH Denial of Death (book): https://amzn.to/329Zxl4 Find us on:  Twitter: https://twitter.com/seize_podcast  O4L: https://o4lonlinenetwork.com/seizethe...  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seizethemom...  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeizeTheMome...  We are also everywhere podcasts are available!  #SheldonSolomon #ErnestBecker #DenialofDeath #DeathAnxiety #TheWormAtTheCore #LexFridman #DeathAnxiety #Life #Philosophy #SocialPsychology #TerrorManagementTheory #TMT #Polarization #DenialofDeath

Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist at Skidmore College and an author. Humans are a unique animal in that we are aware of our own mortality. One day we will die, and we know it. This fact has a huge impact on how we live our lives, perhaps it's the most important fact we know. Expect to learn how Sheldon's experiments have proven that death anxiety is a crucial driver of behaviour, why we can hate somebody for the shape of their nose, how death anxiety causes people to be tribal, what would happen if a child grew up without any human contact and much more... Sponsor: Get a 21 Day Free Trial to a supercharged calendar at https://woven.com/podcast/wisdom (discount automatically applied) Extra Stuff: Buy The Worm At The Core - https://amzn.to/31VQtRn  Get my free Ultimate Life Hacks List to 10x your daily productivity → https://chriswillx.com/lifehacks/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom - Get in touch. Join the discussion with me and other like minded listeners in the episode comments on the MW YouTube Channel or message me... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ModernWisdomPodcast Email: modernwisdompodcast@gmail.com

Dr Sheldon Solomon discusses the documentary UNFIT: An eye-opening and shattering analysis of the behavior, psyche, condition, and stability of Donald J. Trump.

Where do we find hope for our society that is caught up in an epidemic of narcissism and self-destructive behavior? This episode advances the discussion of our society and opportunities for hope. Dr. Sheldon Solomon extends the concerns about individual and collective narcissism into other areas and explores some new ideas.

How do we find a way forward in a society that is mired in an epidemic of narcissism and struggling with radical economic inequality? This second of three episodes expands a discussion of narcissism to more fully understand what it means to individuals and to our society. www.thehubforimportantideas.com

Where is there hope in this age of Narcissism? This episode discusses narcissism, the unexpected dangers it poses for our society, and possible antidotes that we believe have far reaching potential. www.thehubforimportantideas.com

Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist, a philosopher, co-developer of Terror Management Theory, co-author of The Worm at the Core. Please support this channel by supporting our sponsors: – Blinkist: https://blinkist.com/lex – ExpressVPN at https://www.expressvpn.com/lexpod – Cash App: download app & use code “LexPodcast” Episode links: Sheldon’s Website: https://www.skidmore.edu/psychology/faculty/solomon.php The Worm at the Core (book): https://amzn.to/31hQAXH Denial of Death (book): https://amzn.to/329Zxl4 If you would like to get more information about this podcast go to https://lexfridman.com/podcast or connect with @lexfridman on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Medium, or YouTube where you can watch the video versions of these conversations. If you enjoy the podcast, please

Being human is pretty great. Our brains are large and sophisticated, which allows us to think and do things in ways that other animals cannot. With this intelligence, however, comes an existential burden: an awareness of our own mortality. In this episode, I interview social psychologist Sheldon Solomon. Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College in New York. He studies the effects of death awareness on human thoughts, feelings, and behavior. He, along with his colleagues Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, developed terror management theory, which posits that our awareness of our own mortality affects our daily lives in profound ways. You can read more about terror management theory in their book, The Worm at the Core: On The Role of Death in Life. You will also hear parts of a conversation with my three-year-old son as he realizes for the first time that he too is mortal.Music: “Glitter” and “Wavy Glass” by Podington Bear and “Come As You Were” by Blue Dot SessionsThank you so much to Sheldon Solomon for decades of groundbreaking research and for the eye-opening conversation.And thank you to my beautiful son for your sensitivity, your curiosity, and your depth.

What is the pivotal role self-esteem plays in our culture? This episode discusses the key concept of self-esteem, why it is psychologically important, and what's wrong with our society in terms of its role in not helping to provide strong self-esteem. www.thehubforimportantideas.com

Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg e Tom Pyszczynski escreveram um livro chamado "The Worm at the Core:the Role of Death in Life". Eles exploram o conceito de "ansiedade de morte". Se você se interessar em pesquisar mais sobre esse tema, acho que você vai curtir a leitura.Em tempos de pandemia, a presença da morte ocupa mais espaço na nossa mente. Pode ser importante falar sobre o que causa desconforto.

Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski wrote a book called "The Worm at the Core: the Role of Death in Life" where they explored the concept of "death anxiety". If you are interested in researching about the subject, I think you will enjoy the reading.In times of pandemic, the presence of death occupies space in our minds. It might be important to talk about subjects that makes us uncomfortable.

For our season finale, we will be exploring our ultimate human fear, our number one cognitive dissonance that arguably leads to all our American hysterias, all our archetypes, beliefs, and delusions, our moral panics. We’ll be taking at look at the historical progression of how Americans have dealt with mortality starting with a place known as the Disneyland of Death, then traveling back to learn about the Puritan idea of the Good Death, and then see how the mass casualties of the Civil War and Lincoln’s embalmed corpse changed our relationship to bodies and immortality, all the way up to the present day tech billionaires funding strange new science to live forever. But we’ll also explore how, historically, the deaths of Black people have been treated in an almost polar opposite way to the deaths of white people, and how the echoes of this reality reach into the present day. Through a psychological concept known as the Terror Management Theory, we’ll try to understand how this uniquely human knowledge of our inevitable deaths shapes our psychology, society, and culture. We will be taking a hiatus for the summer but please stay with us, stay subscribed, follow us on social media or if you can, become a Patron (https://www.patreon.com/americanhysteria) . We love you all so much, thank you for being the best audience we could ever hope for

Poder y dinero, ¿pueden hacernos felices? Nuestro deseo constante de más es parte de nuestra naturaleza humana. ¿Cuál debería ser el límite? Unos dicen que es un legado útil de la evolución; otros, que es un error en el programa genético. El viejo pecado capital de la codicia parece más actual que nunca. ¿Por qué algunos seres humanos no tienen nunca suficiente? ¿A dónde conduce tal desmesura? ¿Se puede romper el círculo vicioso de la satisfacción de las necesidades? "A las personas les gusta poseer cosas, pues les da la sensación de vivir eternamente". Son palabras del psicólogo social estadounidense Sheldon Solomon, para quien el fetichismo de la mercancía y la fiebre consumista actuales son nefastos. En la era del ego, quien no consigue satisfacer sus deseos materiales, recibe el sello de "perdedor". Pero, con una población mundial de más de 7000 millones de personas, las consecuencias del consumo de recursos desmedido son manifiestas. ¿El estado deplorable de nuestro planeta no demuestra que el "programa de la codicia", que nos ha hecho adictos a la propiedad, al estatus y al poder, toca a su fin? O, ¿es la sed de poseer un ingrediente inseparable de la naturaleza humana? Indagamos en la esencia de la codicia. Y les contamos las historias de personas, que, de forma activa, como víctimas o consumidores desenfrenados, son partes integrantes de un paulatino cambio de valores.

Sheldon Solomon is a social psychologist at Skidmore College.He specializes in TMT, Terror Management Theory, something I recently discovered and wanted to share with you guys. Hes the cool teacher I always wanted, but I never went to college so I always watch his lectures on Youtube....enjoy!

Why is there bigotry? In this episode Dr. Sheldon Solomon offers a unique perspective on prejudice, the psychological underpinnings for it, and the problem in America.

Today on Powerful Jeff sits down with Dr. Cathryn Van Kessel and together they conceptualize good and evil and societal ideas surrounding death and the impacts on one's life. Cathryn is a professor at the University of Alberta where she teaches and researches all things evil. In this episode Cathryn discusses how as humans we have a natural biological response to death and that we want to feel stable and permanent and don’t want to die. Cathryn introduces listeners to the fascinating concepts that make up Terror Management Theory and how it illustrates how a direct reminder of death makes humans do weird and quirky things. Give this episode a listen and click on the resources if you want to find out more about this week's topic. Resources Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrEvilAcademic Cathryn Van Kessel profile at U of A: https://www.ualberta.ca/education/about-us/professor-profiles/cathryn-van-kessel The Grim Educator Website: https://pressbooks.library.ualberta.ca/grimeducator/ The Worm at the Core by Sheldon Solomon: https://www.amazon.ca/Worm-Core-Role-Death-Life/dp/1400067472/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=CjwKCAiAyeTxBRBvEiwAuM8dnW60T7qRWs_aHT9CSRfKvxrUoNzsabE1IGphNxrqAYjt2_Sj2Us8ixoCAboQAvD_BwE&hvadid=208264203762&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9001343&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8482690808591347758&hvtargid=aud-854586742982%3Akwd-300604677728&hydadcr=22430_9261609&keywords=worm+at+the+core&qid=1580874806&sr=8-1 Wecroak App Cathryn talked about in Episode: https://www.wecroak.com/

Tonight’s show is called, “2 Mins to Midnight (Terror Management Theory).” Terror Management Theory is both a social and evolutionary psychology theory originally proposed by Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski, and codified in their 2015 book “The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life.” According to the APA Dictionary, it is a theory proposing that control of death anxiety is the primary function of society and the main motivation in human behavior. Tonight, we will discuss: History and Explanation of Terror Management TheoryCultural Values and their Role in Terror Management Theory Rebuttals and Related Theories Summary and Resources :We'll start off the evening with some topic-relevant Classic Rock played by Dr. Mathis, followed by Classic Rock trivia in "The Rock & Roll Shrink Recalls," followed by our topic discussion. Please follow our bi-weekly, Wednesday evening shows, at 11 pm EST/EDT. We will have a new topic for you in two weeks!

Rui Zhong, Wilson Center, on 70 years of communism in China. Michael Sierra, Rutgers University, on how community interaction increases trust in police. Ken Rosenberg, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and American Bird Conservancy, on the decline of bird populations. Sheldon Solomon, Skidmore College, on the fear of death. Sean Pica of the Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison on prison rehabilitation. Annika Morgan from About Fresh on providing fresh produce to communities in food deserts.

Air Date: 10/1/2019 Today we take an unflinching look at two of the major sources of anxiety in modern life, Donald Trump and the climate crisis, and some of what we can do to find a degree of calm. Be part of the show! Leave a message at 202-999-3991   EPISODE SPONSORS: Madison-Reed.com (Promo Code: LEFT) | Clean Choice Energy SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK  MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content) SHOW NOTES Ch. 1: Why We Are Drawn to Charismatic Authoritarians with Sheldon Solomon - Hidden Brain with Shankar Vedantam - Air Date 9-16-19 Sheldon Solomon discusses why humans are so prone to following leaders to trigger their fear response. Ch. 2: Dr. Bandy Lee Warns Trumps Mental Health Is A Real National Emergency - The Chauncey DeVega Show - Air Date 2-22-19 Dr. Bandy Lee warns that Trumps mental health is a threat to world peace, and discusses that sick societies produce sick leaders. Ch. 3: Climate Anxiety in the Trump Era with Renee Lertzman - Warm Regards with Eric Holthaus - Air Date 11-19-16 Renee Lertzman, who works to understand the psychology of how we deal with environmental issues. Her words are especially useful in this time of shared anxiety and concern and uncertainty. Ch. 4: Is Trump A Disease with Dr. Bandy Lee - Trumpcast with Virginia Heffernan - Air Date 7-10-19 Virginia Heffernan talks to Dr. Bandy Lee, psychiatrist at Yale University, for a deep, compelling new take on the long debate about Trump’s mental fitness. Ch. 5: From Stigma to Oppression - Off-Kilter with Rebecca Vallas - Air Date 5-31-19 Mental Illness is very common in the US, from burnout to anxiety to depression to suicide, and our systems don't support proper care. Ch. 6: Are You Feeling Climate Grief? - Eaarth Feels with Rose and Christine - Air Date 8-23-19 Rose and Christine discuss the climate crisis and the strain our mental health is under - and the possibilities. Ch. 7: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump with Allen Frances - Inquiring Minds with Indre Viskontas and Kishore Hari - Air Date 10-17-17 We talk to renowned psychiatrist Allen Frances about his latest book Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump. VOICEMAILS Ch. 10: Experience with 9/11 and learning about Islam - Heather from Texas Ch. 11: Home run race relation example - Alan from Connecticut Ch. 12: 9/11 and Columbine - Erin from Philadelphia Ch. 13: Millennial depression - Corey from New Jersey FINAL COMMENTS Ch. 14: Final comments on a big announcement regarding steps being taken toward maintaining good mental health MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions): Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr  Algea Trio - Algea Fields Chrome and Wax - Ray Catcher Eventual Victory - Codebreaker Midday - Pecan Grove The Spinnet - Castle Danger Waterbourne - Algea Fields Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent   Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Thanks for listening! Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Support the show via Patreon Listen on iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Alexa Devices | +more Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores! Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Review the show on iTunes and Stitcher!

Last week, we spoke with psychologist Sheldon Solomon about the fear of death and how it shapes our actions. This week, we pivot from psychology and politics to religion and history as we explore how people have tried to resolve these fears. We talk with philosopher Stephen Cave about the ways we assure ourselves that death is not really the end.

You might not think about death very often, but the work of today’s guest has demonstrated that death plays a crucial role in our psychological make-ups. Sheldon Solomon is an expert psychologist and one of the world’s leading theorists in Terror Management Theory, which is a subfield of psychology that explores how pretty much everything we do and think is an attempt to evade the prospect of death.  Death makes us feel vulnerable, so we become more entrenched in our cultural worldviews, more violent against outsiders, and more invested in our own egos.

Humans are uniquely aware of our own mortality. Someday, hopefully later rather than sooner, each of us is going to die. For our guest, Dr. Sheldon Solomon, recognition of our own death is the most important idea in human history. Sheldon argues, and he has the proof to back it up, that the awareness of our own death (“mortality salience,” is his fancy term for it) influences all aspects of our lives, from religion, to art, to—and this where it gets really interesting for us—our politics. Sheldon calls it “Terror Management Theory,” and he explains that this is what sits at the core of Donald Trump’s appeal. © Copyright Original Music "Royal Flush Gang" by Composer Joel Goodman Published by Oovra Music See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

D.S. Moss comes back from the jungle for more adventures in death, yo. Life coach turned death coach, Devin Martin, gets filled in on Moss' post-psychedelic reflections. This leads Moss to the ultimate question: how to live life with psychological anxiety of knowing you're going to die? To help answer this question, Moss gets social psychology professor and egghead crush Sheldon Solomon on the horn to discuss if the fear of death truly is the worm at humanity's core.

Cass Midgley and Bob Pondillo interview Rosie in Great Britain. Rosie's dad was a pastor and in the late 70s co-founded the apostolic, pentecostal church called Newfrontiers International. Today it has hundreds of churches worldwide. At age 12 Rosie was subjected to a traumatizing exorcism for an eating disorder, which of course didn't work but the pastors and congregation claimed it did which only intensified Rosie's need to keep it a secret. She was taught that it was the end times, Jesus was coming back at any moment. They emphasized spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons.  The World is a scary place, but the church is safe. Today she has a private counselling practice and works with teenagers in school. She has emerged from the horrors of her childhood and feels she's got her happy ending, but prefers to think of it as her happy beginning.  Last week I talked my histrionic tendencies. That I have a profound felt need for attention and affection that turned out to be something of a black hole of needs. My parents loved me but I discounted it because they were prejudiced and parents are hard-wired to love their children. My friends loved me but I thought they hated me, and actually my distrust of their friendship made more all the harder to earn what they'd already given me and did in fact become a self-fulfilling because my antics to gain their attention and adoration only drove them to dislike me, which only confirmed my suspicions. When the Gospel was presented to, the unconditional love of a God from whom I could not hide or fool into thinking I was cool by being funny or cute or smart or handsome. At last a love I could believe in and trust. After all the Bible said so. But after the initial high of getting saved wore off, which was about 3 months I suppose, my black hole opened up again and sought the limelight. Becoming a worship leader, youth pastor, and eventual founding pastor of a non-denominational church put me on the stage where I could wow people with my wisdom, charisma, and powerful homiletics. Standing in front of a hundred teenagers and eventually adults with all their eyes on me, hanging on my every word, and afterword a line forming of those wanting to talk to me. The esteem, the exaltation made my black feel good. But much like an opiate, when the drugs wore off, I was lonely and depressed, needed back in the limelight. I suspect that histrionic personality disorder could also be called with Pastor's Syndrome. This cycle, much like the experience with my youthful friends, over time, drove people away from me, confirming all my fears that I was unlovable, enticing me to try harder to make them love, driving them further away, including those nearest and dearest to me. Leaving faith was the beginning of me joining the human race, learning to relax and be at home in my own body, to actually like myself apart from outside accolades, say yes to what is, and begin to establish myself and and my view of the world in which I find myself with the meaning I give it. Now, this is a life's work and as most of you know who listen to this show, I've got a long way to go, be even that I'm okay with. I also acknowledge that my black hole, while much smaller and less insatiable, derives some pleasure from being the honcho of this podcast and having thousands of listeners. And I'm hoping that being aware of that will assist me in resisting the temptation to get my validation from it. To illustrate this line of thinking in another way, here's a clip from someone I've learned a great deal from, Dr. Sheldon Solomon, a scholar on Ernest Becker's book, "The Denial of Death."   (clip) In a text conversation I had this week with a dear friend of mine that I met through this podcast, Kyle Buckles. I wrote: I want to love myself (say YES) such that I don't need anyone's affection or affirmation to feel good about myself AND enough to desire to develop myself into a better and better version of myself, not for anyone but myself and not because I'm inadequate right now. It's saying YES AND. I know it sounds like common sense, but I need to keep it in mind. To which Kyle replied: ""That is excellent advice. And hard to accomplish but recognizing is a huge step. The one thing I will say is be compassionate with yourself on this journey of awareness. As you intuit how you feel and respond more and more, you may get frustrated. Allow yourself the space to fuck up. It's just like meditating, when you recognize your thoughts have wandered you note it and come back to the breath...not bashing yourself for fucking up. Keep in mind, as humans, we evolved to crave and need attention from others because it contributed to our survival, so until we fully ditch that as a species I don't think anyone can ever reach 100% non-dependency on others for affirmation and affection but it is good to attenuate it. Maybe keep that in perspective." Our guest today, Rosie, models this endeavor with considerable success. As ex-Christians, stunted by the Christian debasement of what it means to be human and the relinquishing our wills and agency in submissive serfdom to a sovereign dictator, we find ourselves re-entering the world that's been going on without us, and the instinctive, natural intent to develop ourselves in a beautiful and often confusing maturation, natural to our species ensues. We are shedding the co-dependence to which our fears and insecurities enslaved us, and learning to be our authentic selves, in public, needing less and less from those around us, growing independent and eventually interdependent in a community of people also learning to stand on their own two feet. We taped this conversation on February 11th, 2018. We interview people you don’t know, about a subject no one wants to talk about. We hope to encourage people in the process of deconstructing their faith and help curb the loneliness that accompanies it. We think the world is a better place when more people live by sight, not by faith. Please subscribe to our podcast, and leave a review wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, we offer these podcasts freely. And your support truly makes a difference. You can support us monetarily in two easy ways: you can pledge a monthly donation through Patreon. that’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast,  or leave a lump-sum donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com. Credits:"Towering Mountain of Ignorance" intro by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v3S82TuxU Intro bumper "Never Know" by Jack JohnsonThe segue music on this episode "Deeper" by Delirious Thanks for listening! And be a yes-sayer to what is.  Sheldon Solomon's talk on Self Esteem

Sheldon Solomon is Professor of Psychology at Skidmore College.  His studies of the effects of the uniquely human awareness of death on behavior have been supported by the National Science Foundation and Ernest Becker Foundation, and were featured in the award winning documentary film Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality.  He is co-author of In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror and The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life.  Sheldon is an American Psychological Society Fellow, and a recipient of an American Psychological Association Presidential Citation (2007), a Lifetime Career Award by the International Society for Self and Identity (2009), and the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs Annual Faculty Award (2011).

Ajit Varki explores the human capacity for denial of reality and how that has shaped our evolution; Sheldon Solomon different philosophies surrounding mortality; and Nicholas Humphrey provides a comprehensive look at the motivations for, prevalence of and reactions to the uniquely human act for suicide. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32048]

Ajit Varki explores the human capacity for denial of reality and how that has shaped our evolution; Sheldon Solomon different philosophies surrounding mortality; and Nicholas Humphrey provides a comprehensive look at the motivations for, prevalence of and reactions to the uniquely human act for suicide. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32048]

We also discuss how thinking about death influences politics. Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski are professors of psychology at Skidmore College, the University of Arizona, and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, respectively. Dr. Pyscznzski is a distinguished professor at the University of Colorado They have been collaborating on research and writing projects for more than thirty years. Their award-winning and National Science Foundation–funded work has infused existential thought into modern psychological science, using state-of-the-art methods to explore terrain long thought to be beyond the scope of scientific scrutiny. This integration of different approaches has led to new ways of thinking about culture, self-esteem, and the factors that steer people toward their most noble and ignoble actions.

DescriptionProduct DescriptionA transformative, fascinating theory—based on robust and groundbreaking experimental research—reveals how our unconscious fear of death powers almost everything we do, shining a light on the hidden motives that drive human behavior More than one hundred years ago, the American philosopher William James dubbed the knowledge that we must die “the worm at the core” of the human condition. In 1974, cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker won the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Denial of Death, arguing that the terror of death has a pervasive effect on human affairs. Now authors Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski clarify with wide-ranging evidence the many ways the worm at the core guides our thoughts and actions, from the great art we create to the devastating wars we wage. The Worm at the Core is the product of twenty-five years of in-depth research. Drawing from innovative experiments conducted around the globe, Solomon, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski show conclusively that the fear of death and the desire to transcend it inspire us to buy expensive cars, crave fame, put our health at risk, and disguise our animal nature. The fear of death can also prompt judges to dole out harsher punishments, make children react negatively to people different from themselves, and inflame intolerance and violence. But the worm at the core need not consume us. Emerging from their research is a unique and compelling approach to these deeply existential issues: terror management theory. TMT proposes that human culture infuses our lives with order, stability, significance, and purpose, and these anchors enable us to function moment to moment without becoming overwhelmed by the knowledge of our ultimate fate. The authors immerse us in a new way of understanding human evolution, child development, history, religion, art, science, mental health, war, and politics in the twenty-first century. In so doing, they also reveal how we can better come to terms with death and learn to lead lives of courage, creativity, and compassion. Written in an accessible, jargon-free style, The Worm at the Core offers a compelling new paradigm for understanding the choices we make in life—and a pathway toward divesting ourselves of the cultural and personal illusions that keep us from accepting the end that awaits us all. Praise for The Worm at the Core “The idea that nearly all human individual and cultural activity is a response to death sounds far-fetched. But the evidence the authors present is compelling and does a great deal to address many otherwise intractable mysteries of human behaviour. This is an important, superbly readable and potentially life-changing book.” —The Guardian (U.K.) “A neat fusion of ideas borrowed from sociology, anthropology, existential philosophy and psychoanalysis.” —The Herald (U.K.) “Deep, important, and beautifully written, The Worm at the Core describes a brilliant and utterly original program of scientific research on a force so powerful that it drives our lives.” —Daniel Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Stumbling on Happiness “As psychology becomes increasingly trivial, devolving into the promotion of positive-thinking platitudes, The Worm at the Core bucks the trend. The authors present—and provide robust evidence for—a psychological thesis with disturbing personal as well as political implications.” —John Horgan, author of The End of War and director of the Center for Science Writings, Stevens Institute of TechnologyReview“The idea that nearly all human individual and cultural activity is a response to death sounds far-fetched. But the evidence the authors present is compelling and does a great deal to address many otherwise intractable mysteries of human behaviour. This is an important, superbly readable and potentially life-changing book. . . . The lesson contained within The Worm at the Core suggests one should confront mortality in order to live an authentic life, as the Epicureans and the Stoics suggested many centuries ago.” —The Guardian (U.K.) “A neat fusion of ideas borrowed from sociology, anthropology, existential philosophy and psychoanalysis . . . [The] sweep-it-under-the-carpet approach to death is facile and muddle-headed. More than that, it has consequences more far-reaching than we could possibly imagine because, as [the authors] see it, death informs practically every aspect of human existence. From the way we organise our societies to the moral codes we live by, even down to how we have sex and what rituals and emotions we ascribe to it, death is the bedrock.” —The Herald (U.K.) “Deep, important, and beautifully written, The Worm at the Core describes a brilliant and utterly original program of scientific research on a force so powerful that it drives our lives, but so frightening that we cannot think clearly about it. This book asks us to, compels us to, and then shows us how—by shining the light of reason on the heart of human darkness.” —Daniel Gilbert, Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Stumbling on Happiness “As psychology becomes increasingly trivial, devolving into the promotion of positive-thinking platitudes, The Worm at the Core bucks the trend. The authors present—and provide robust evidence for—a psychological thesis with disturbing personal as well as political implications. This is an important book.” —John Horgan, author of The End of War and director of the Center for Science Writings, Stevens Institute of Technology “This is a wonderfully (terrifyingly) broad and deep study of most everything we know or have thought about death. It carries Ernest Becker's work a long way further down the road.” —Sam Keen, author of Faces of the EnemyAbout the AuthorSheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski are professors of psychology at Skidmore College, the University of Arizona, and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, respectively. They have been collaborating on research and writing projects for more than thirty years. Their award-winning and National Science Foundation–funded work has infused existential thought into modern psychological science, using state-of-the-art methods to explore terrain long thought to be beyond the scope of scientific scrutiny. This integration of different approaches has led to new ways of thinking about culture, self-esteem, and the factors that steer people toward their most noble and ignoble actions.

Psychologist Sheldon Solomon is the guest on this week's episode of The Chauncey DeVega Show. He is a leading authority on social psychology and helped to develop what is known as "terror management theory". Dr. Solomon has written numerous books and articles including In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror and The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life. During this week's show Sheldon and Chauncey discuss how existential angst and death anxieties influenced Trump's voters, Trump and destruction, how emotion can overcome reason in political decision-making, can any headway be made in bringing Trump's deplorables and other supporters back to normal society and reason, if individuals and cultures truly change, as well as the lack of expert voices on the role of psychology and politics in the mass media. On this week's show, Chauncey shares some thoughts about being an only child and product of the working class, explains how White House spokesperson Sean Spicer is an anti-Semite and Holocaust-denier, and offers some thoughts about the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer and also the amazing second season of the Hap and Leonard television show. Chauncey also reads a newspaper story from the Chicago Tribune about how "hillbillies" were overrunning the city during the 1950s.

Sheldon Solomon explores how Humans manage the terror of death, and the larger implications of this quest for immortality via death denial.  Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32056]

Sheldon Solomon explores how Humans manage the terror of death, and the larger implications of this quest for immortality via death denial.  Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 32056]

Everyone of us, perhaps unconsciously, is probably trying to buy into or build or trust some kind of immortality system, although we do this in different ways. For some of us, success is the immortality system; for others, it’s a legacy; and for others, especially evangelicals, it’s the promise of eternal life. For most of us, our ideological constructs are immortality systems. What's going on here? Drawing from a few books — Ernest Becker's "Denial of Death," Richard Beck's "The Slavery of Death" and Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski's "The Worm at the Core" — this podcast focuses on the central problem in any critique of ideology: the problem of our enslavement to death. If you like, you can support the Unorthodoxy podcast here: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4508571

Cass and Bob have a conversation with former guest Benjamin Hicks. He was our first guest on episode 3, after Bob and Cass interviewed each other on episodes 1 and 2.  Ben is one of those guys that is just a sweetheart. He’s humble, he’s a beta, he’s got a big heart, he wants the best for everyone. He’s got a conservative brain and a brilliant brain. He’s a career computer guy nerd genius, and we love him. You can hear his deconverstion story there, and today we’re discussing estrangement, animosity, and othering that is so prevalent in today’s western zeitgeist. We saw it in the Brexit, we’re seeing it in the public appeal of Trump’s racist rhetoric. In what universe would someone so incompetent and with such lack of self-awareness rise to popularity like he has? And the tension between the Hillary supporters and the Sanders supporters within the democratic party. The estrangement and distrust between black and brown people with police officers. The widening chasm between the rich and the poor in class warfare. The amassing of guns because we’re so scared. The success of terrorists to truly infect the world with terror. It’s working! When people are out in public, in traffic, out shopping, we don’t feel the brotherhood of man, we don’t feel the warmth of community—unless we’ve quarantined ourselves in gated communities with only people of our own ethnicity. These are subjects that scholars have tried to understand for millenia. Scholars that look at the brutality of the world and human depravity and instead of just accepting it as the norm they’ve asked questions like why do we act this way? What narratives are framing our paradigms that put as at such odds? I personally expected that once I got out of elementary school, this childish behavior would finally stop. It didn’t. So I thought, well, after high school, that’s when people will be mature enough not to act this way. Nope. College? The workforce? Adulthood? Nope. Maturity has not happened to us yet. And today, we discuss the works of two scholars who’ve come up with some theories, supported by research, that prescribe some insights. This talk is far from a comprehensive view of their work, so I want to prescribe the work of two scholars for those that are truly interested in some possible solutions to our current social discord: One is Jonathan Haidt. He’s a social psychologist and Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. His academic specialization is the psychology of morality and the moral emotions. Haidt is the author of two books: The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (2006) and The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012), which became a New York Times bestseller. He was named one of the "top global thinkers" by Foreign Policy magazine, and one of the "top world thinkers" by Prospect magazine.  The second is Ernest Becker was a cultural anthropology who earned his PhD from Syracuse University and became a professor at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. In 1973 he published The Denial of Death for which he earned a Pulitzer Prize. A year later he died of cancer at age 49.  Also, the book, The Worm at the Core, by doctors Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski, is about the research done to support Becker’s theories.   We taped this episode on July 29th, 2016. If you’re liking our show, please subscribe to it, give it 5 stars, and/or leave a review on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.  Also, you can support us monetarily on a per episode basis through our Patreon page. That’s www.patreon.com/eapodcast. Or leave a donation through PayPal at our website, www.everyonesagnostic.com. Credits: "Towering Mountain of Ignorance" intro by Hank Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3v3S82TuxU Intro bumper "Never Know" by Jack Johnson   Ben’s talk at Unitarian Universalist Church in Murfreesboro The full text of Ernest Becker’s “The Denial of Death” including the intro by Sam Keen which Cass reads on this episode Episode 52 of Everyone’s Agnostic podcast featuring Ernest Becker’s book and a lecture by Sheldon Solomon The Ernest Becker Foundation Jonathan Haidt’s Ted Talk titled “The Moral Roots of Liberals and Conservatives.” Haidt’s 6 moral foundations Newt Gingrich changed it to a 3 day work week so that politicians spent much less time together.  Imposter syndrome and the Dunning Kruger effect NY Times article by Frank Bruni, “How Facebook Warps Our World.” “But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past” by Chuck Klosterman THE BIG SORT, BY BILL BISHOP with Robert G. Cushing The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Adam Ruins Everything - Why the Electoral College Ruins Democracy Adam describes how political parties are able to predetermine election winners through a process called gerrymandering. Haidt at the Museum of Sex: How disgust shapes our morality.  http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/12/22/why-polarization-matters/ http://www.the-american-interest.com/2016/02/17/the-seven-habits-of-highly-depolarizing-people/  

Today we travel to a future where it’s possible to know exactly when you will die. Do you chose to find out?    Now, this is, impossible. Totally impossible. And I’m not even going to try and come up with some strange pseudoscientific explanation for how this might happen. It’s not a thing. Just go with me here. Some people asked for more weird episodes this season, so, here you go!     We start the episode talking to Chanel Reynolds, the founder of a site called Get Your Shit Together which helps people get their shit together around death and dying. Stuff like: writing a living will, getting it executed, getting disability insurance, putting together an emergency plan, all that shit that, if you’re like me, you do not have together. Chanel started Get Your Shit Together a few years after losing her husband to a sudden accident, and realizing that she really didn’t know what to do, and didn’t have any of her own shit together.    And she tells us about all the reasons it’s good to think about your own death, even if it’s really far away. You never know what might happen, and you don’t want to leave your family, pets and loved ones without a good sense for how you want the end of your life managed.     Then we talk to Sheldon Solomon a professor of psychology at Skidmore College and one of the leading researchers in a field called terror management theory. Terror management theory basically says that we live, all of us, all the time, with this underlying rumble of terror beneath the surface. Terror that we are going to die. Which, we are, at some point. And when we’re reminded of death, that terror bubbles up and impacts our behavior in some not so good ways.     Sheldon has done tons of experiments that show that when you remind someone of their own death, just for a fleeting moment, a tiny reminder, it can make you more racist, xenophobic, hateful, war mongering and rude. They’ve done experiments where they’ve asked people to evaluate ideas or other people after seeing a death reminder. And in tons of experiments they’ve found that death reminders make us worse people. They make Christians dislike Jews more, they make Germans more likely to sit next to other people who look German and away from folks who look not-German, they make Iranians more supportive of suicide bombers and they make Americans more supportive of Trump (seriously).    So, in this future, if we know exactly when we’re going to die, and we think about it all the time, we might turn into horrible people.     There is other research that says that for some people, these effects aren’t as strong, and for some they’re actually positive. But researchers don’t really know what makes someone more likely to become better or worse after being reminded of their own death.     Next we talked to Ryan North, the creator of Dinosaur Comics. Back in 2005, Ryan published an episode of Dinosaur Comics that outlined the premise of the machine of death: you go to the machine, it takes a blood sample, and it spits out a card that sells you how you’re going to die. Maybe it says “poisoned apple,” or “drowned,” or “old age.” Ryan thought it would just be a one off joke, but his friends Matthew Bennardo and David Malki started exploring little short stories based on the premise, and eventually they opened up the idea to general submissions. So far there have been two Machine of Death anthologies, each full of stories about what happens when the machine of death comes to town. They’re really fun, I highly recommend them.    Ryan and I talked about all the weird ways that the option to know your death date might change the world. Does health insurance even make sense anymore? Can you get your kids tested? Should you get your kids tested? Could you make armies of people you knew wouldn’t die that day?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The most notable monster created by Howard Phillips Lovecraft was completely omnipotent, yet completely uncaring. A massive, tentacled being that sleeps in the depths of the ocean--Cthulhu. A creature that will one day rise again from its watery home to reclaim the Earth for itself.In this episode of Here Be Monsters, we team up with Eric Molinsky of the Imaginary Worlds Podcast from Panoply Studios. Eric speaks with Sheldon Solomon, a psychologist who co-founded the study of Terror Management Theory. Solomon explains the absurd lengths that humans go to avoid realizing their own mortality. And thus, Eric embarks on a fictional journey to find out why a creature so loathsome is constantly being turned into Cthulhu plushy toys and Cthulhu onesies for babies. Eric visits a store call Love Craft in Redhook, New York, where he meets Roberta Suydam (played by Ann Scobie). Roberta tells him to look in the water off Rockaway point, Cthulhu is real. Seeking confirmation, he visits the Lovecraft Archives, deep in a basement lab in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. There, professor George Angell (played by Dan Truman) introduces him to the re-animated brain of "Howard" (played by Bill Lobely). Howard Lovecraft turns out to be just as racist in death as he was in life. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Eric rents a boat to see what's out there in the waters off Rockaway Point, but as he draws closer to the dome rising from the water, he finds himself at wits' end.Balancing the literary genius of Lovecraft's dark mythos with his unabashed xenophobia is no easy task. Readers must either choose to ignore the troubling aspects of his personal character, or disgrace him for his beliefs. Or possibly, they may superposition themselves in both camps at once, trying understand Lovecraft as if he's a just another creature in a universe of his own making.Music: Serocell

The most notable monster created by Howard Phillips Lovecraft was completely omnipotent, yet completely uncaring.  A massive, tentacled being that sleeps in the depths of the ocean--Cthulhu.  A creature that will one day rise again from its watery home to reclaim the Earth for itself.In this episode of Here Be Monsters, we team up with Eric Molinsky of the Imaginary Worlds Podcast from Panoply Studios. Eric speaks with Sheldon Solomon, a psychologist who co-founded the study of Terror Management Theory.  Solomon explains the absurd lengths that humans go to avoid realizing their own mortality.  And thus, Eric embarks on a fictional journey to find out why a creature so loathsome is constantly being turned into Cthulhu plushy toys and Cthulhu onesies for babies. Eric visits a store call Love Craft in Redhook, New York, where he meets Roberta Suydam (played by Ann Scobie). Roberta tells him to look in the water off Rockaway point, Cthulhu is real.  Seeking confirmation, he visits the Lovecraft Archives, deep in a basement lab in Lovecraft's hometown of Providence, Rhode Island.  There, professor George Angell (played by Dan Truman) introduces him to the re-animated brain of "Howard" (played by Bill Lobely).  Howard Lovecraft turns out to be just as racist in death as he was in life.  Deciding to take matters into his own hands, Eric rents a boat to see what's out there in the waters off Rockaway Point, but as he draws closer to the dome rising from the water, he finds himself at wits' end.Balancing the literary genius of Lovecraft's dark mythos with his unabashed xenophobia is no easy task.  Readers must either choose to ignore the troubling aspects of his personal character, or disgrace him for his beliefs.  Or possibly, they may superposition themselves in both camps at once, trying understand Lovecraft as if he's a just another creature in a universe of his own making.Music: Serocell

Sheldon Solomon is a psychologist and professor of social psychology at Skidmore College, best known for developing Terror Management Theory, along with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski which is concerned with how humans deal with our own sense of mortality. Solomon co-authored the book The Worm at the Core: On the role of Death in Life with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski.

An interview with the legendary professor Sheldon Solomon based on his work in Terror Management Theory–how human behavior is conditioned by our awareness of ... The post Sheldon Solomon on the Role of Death in Life appeared first on Catherine Ingram.

Can humanity escape extinction by reaching for the stars? We confront final questions with the science fiction novelist Kim Stanley Robinson and the psychologist Sheldon Solomon• Science fiction: the realism of the 21st century

Unlike the character in the movie The Sixth Sense, we actually don’t see dead people. Westerners go to great lengths to excise thoughts about death (real death, that is, not movie death) or being in the presence of death. Sheldon Solomon, on the other hand, routinely thinks about the unthinkable, and how humans behave differently when the unthinkable forces its way into their thoughts. Solomon, a social psychologist at New York’s Skidmore College, along with two other experimental social psychologists, Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, developed the idea of ‘terror management theory’ more than three decades ago to test out scientifically how the mere specter of mortality alters behavior. Here, in conversation with Social Science Bites’ Nigel Warburton, Solomon specifically addresses the fear of death and how his views were derived from the earlier work of Ernest Becker. Becker, Solomon explains, called the fear of death the “main spring of human activity.” Nonetheless we don’t want to face death directly, Solomon adds, and so, “Just like most of us are unaware of the internal dynamics of the engine that drives our car, we are equally unaware of what it is that impels us to do what we do every day.” Various experiments bear that out. When primed with the thought of death,  judges reminded of death mete out tougher penalties, American voters shifted their prospective votes from a liberal to a conservative,  shoppers shift from bargain brands to status symbols. “And now the real work can commence,” he explains, “which is the nuances: what are the personality variables that influence how vigorously and how defensively one will react? And we know some of those. We know that insecurely-attached and highly-neurotic people respond more defensively when they are reminded of death. But now, we’re in the process, in part we’re studying people who are terminally ill in hospice settings because we know that there has to be tremendous variation - that some people are more comfortable with the prospect of the inevitability of death than others. That’s really what we want to get a handle on right now.” Solomon earned a bachelor’s degree from Franklin and Marshall College and a doctorate from the University of Kansas. He’s taught at Skidmore, where he’s currently the Ross Professor for Interdisciplinary Studies, since 1980 after joining the faculty at age 26. (He also co-owns a restaurant in the Skidmore’s home of Saratoga Springs.) Along with Greenberg and Pyszczynski he wrote the 2003 book In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror, in which terror management theory (which is not in itself about terrorism) is used to analyze the roots of terrorism.  

One year birthday of the Everyone's Agnostic podcast! This week we feature Dr. Sheldon Solomon lecturing on Ernest Becker's Pulitzer Prize winner book, "The Denial of Death." Becker reveals how and why we humans look to constructed narratives to ease our anxiety around death. This is the crux of why we need religion and why we so easily feel threatened by those with different beliefs. If this won't change your life, nothing will.     This episode was recorded on June 27th, 2015. Our opening monologue is an excerpt from a Youtube called “Towering Mountain of Ignorance” by Hank Green. The opening music is “never know” by Jack Johnson, and The musical segues on this episode were written and performed by Cass Midgley.

On this episode I talk with social psychologist Michael Johns about terror management theory, a principle developed by psychologists Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon, and Tom Pyszczynski off the works of anthropologist Ernest Becker. The theory connects humans' fear of death with our cultural values (very interesting stuff, may make you question your own worldview, listen with caution).Note: this episode lists the museum's email address incorrectly! Please send all correspondence to info@morbidanatomymuseum.org to avoid losing it to the aether.

second half replay…Chasing Greatness Part Two – Connected Communicationhttp://rebootedbody.com/056/with hosts Kevin Geary and Chris Stefanick…http://rebootyourkids.com/listen/http://choiceconversations.libsyn.com/the-virtue-of-selfishness-with-wes-bertrandIntimacy: Trusting Oneself and the Otherhttp://www.amazon.com/Intimacy-Trusting-Oneself-Other-Osho/dp/0312275668http://baytalinsaan.com/ebooks/INTIMACY.pdfKevin’s ebook…http://rebootyourkids.com/without-a-fight/“somebody to love” excerpt from this show…FDR2789 How NOT to Fight Evil - Saturday Call In Show September 6th, 2014http://cdn.freedomainradio.com/FDR_2789_Saturday_Show_6_Sep_2014.mp3Flight From Death: The Quest for Immortality (2005)http://www.hulu.com/watch/173530Sheldon Solomon on His Mortalityhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3liHf3WEP8Dr. Sheldon Solomon on Death Awareness and Psychological Growthhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlzfxKJUvWgSheldon Solomon - Ernest Becker & The Denial of Deathhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpVkrIdz9-YSheldon Solomon - The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Lifehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tkkmInXfOEhow liberty relates to our mortality…http://www.logicallearning.net/libanissueofmort.htmlExistential Bummerhttp://youtu.be/Yb-OYmHVchQAn Awesome Book Of Lovehttp://www.veryawesomeworld.com/books/abol/index.htmlJudgment Day: My Years With Ayn Randhttp://www.amazon.com/Judgment-Day-Years-Ayn-Rand/dp/0395461073/The Psychology Of Romantic Lovehttp://www.amazon.com/The-Psychology-Romantic-Love-Anti-Romantic/dp/1585426253If You Could Hear What I Cannot Say: Learning To Communicate With The Ones You Lovehttp://www.amazon.com/you-could-hear-what-cannot/dp/0553014196Honest liars -- the psychology of self-deception: Cortney Warren at TEDxUNLVhttp://youtu.be/YpEeSa6zBTEhttp://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14367/how-i-survived-domestic-violence-liz-arch.htmlhttp://lifeprocessprogram.com/love-and-addiction/http://fourhourworkweek.com/2014/10/28/andrew-zimmern-on-simple-cooking-tricks-developing-tv-and-addiction/The Theory of Everything Official Trailer (2014) Stephen Hawking Movie HDhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUpl0HDGq1Qhttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/432.Ayn_Randbumper music:“Walking On A Dream” by Empire Of The Sunhttp://empireofthesun.com/“Somebody To Love” by Queen“Who Wants To Live Forever” by Queenhttp://www.queenonline.com/“Safe And Sound” by Capital Citieshttp://capitalcitiesmusic.com/