Terror management theory

[andyjohnsonman]

What are your views on this? The idea that the more one thinks about death the worse one needs myths and stories to distract from it. Which has created a materialist society.

[tsuki]

Materialist society was not created by our fear of death.
We were able to observe our fear of death in relation to materialist society.

We did not create our current condition, as creation implies deliberate intent.
All we wanted to do is solve our problem of basic needs by employing our intellect.
We succeeded in this enterprise to some degree, but the true value of our undertaking lies in the interpretation of the result.
That is because our intellect is both what solves the problem of survival and creates it.
This is why we first had to scale technology up to survive (to the point of unsustainability), and now we need to scale down for the same reason.
This is not a process of survival, but a process of self-knowledge. This is how we learn to accept ourselves along with our mortality.
We are bound to repeat this process until we observe that reality is mirror-like (self referential). That what we resist - persists.

So, how does the idea of death come into the picture?
It is not universally true that:

3 hours ago, andyjohnsonman said:

The idea that the more one thinks about death the worse one needs myths and stories to distract from it.

because contemplation on the passing nature of existence is a method of attaining enlightenment (which entails liberation from stories).
First, we unconsciously run away from death, then we try to come to terms with it, and finally - we embrace it.
This requires to us to counter-intuitively see that we run away from death because it terrifies us, and it is terrifying because we're unwilling to face it.
I personally find the idea of death comforting. No mark that I could leave upon the world is as permanent as my own erasure.

Edited December 15, 2018 by tsuki