{"id":20929,"date":"2020-12-06T09:20:14","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T13:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=20929"},"modified":"2020-12-19T17:38:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T21:38:38","slug":"why-are-humans-afraid-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-are-humans-afraid-of-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are Humans Afraid of Death? The Simple Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why are humans afraid of death<\/a>? Is this fear justified?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer to the question “why are humans afraid of death?” is simple\u2014it’s against our nature to accept death<\/a>. Humans have always sought ways to rationalize and understand death on their own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about the ways in which people avoid thinking about death<\/a>, and find out the answer to the question “why are humans afraid of death?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Why Are Humans Afraid of Death?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the previous law, we looked at what people want. Now, we\u2019ll look at what people don\u2019t<\/em> want\u2014to die. So, why are humans afraid of death? And why do we avoid thinking about it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans are the only animal aware of our inevitable mortality, and while this awareness and cognitive ability are why we\u2019re top of the food chain, they also make us sad. To avoid this sadness, we try to think about anything <\/strong>but <\/em><\/strong>death. Most people take this so far that they don\u2019t even think about being <\/strong>alive<\/em><\/strong>\u2014instead, their minds circle the same few fears, irritations, and hopes, and they only give their surroundings half of their attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, the more we try to repress death, the less alive we feel, which is known as the paradoxical death effect. <\/strong>It can also help answer the question “why are humans afraid of death?” This is because when we avoid thinking about death or desensitize ourselves, our anxiety about it strengthens. To avoid feeling this anxiety, we try to make our life more controllable by doing less, <\/strong>dulling our psyche with an addiction, avoiding new things so we can\u2019t fail at them, and avoiding spending time with people because they\u2019re unpredictable. All these responses actually make our life more death-like\u2014isolated and unchanging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, when we don\u2019t repress death, we actually feel more alive<\/a>. An awareness of death makes us pay more attention to the people and world around us.<\/strong> We realize nothing is permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n