<p>Dr&nbsp;Sheldon&nbsp;Solomon (psychologist, founder of terror management theory) has spent 45 years proving that our fear of death is responsible for the structures of civilisation, such as&nbsp;religion, education, our moral laws, myths, consumerism, distraction technologies etc. Such structures keep us from being (fatally) overwhelmed by the uniquely human awareness that we will die one day. But what happens in a moment like this one, when so much death and annihilation looms? Well, our seductive death-denial efforts can drag us either way – into a tribal, fascist, self-destructive descent, or toward radical compassion and a life-<em>affirming</em>&nbsp;future.&nbsp;</p><br><p>In this episode, I ask Sheldon to tell me how we (all of us here) can use his terror management theory to urgently steer things to the latter.&nbsp;This chat goes into juicy, philosophical territory but emerges with beautifully tangible answers for everyone in the “collapse aware” space. It’s a fun one!</p><br><p>*Hint: yes, it would appear we can!</p><br><p><strong>About&nbsp;Sheldon</strong></p><p>Sheldon&nbsp;Solomon&nbsp;is a professor of psychology at&nbsp;Skidmore College&nbsp;in&nbsp;Saratoga Springs, New York. Solomon is best known for co-developing&nbsp;“terror management theory”&nbsp;and&nbsp;is the co-author of&nbsp;<em>Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life</em>.&nbsp;Sheldon&nbsp;is also an American Psychological Society Fellow.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Show notes</strong></p><p>You can get hold of&nbsp;<em>Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life </em><a href="https://amzn.to/4mSHLM9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a></p><p>You might also like to listen to this Wild episode with <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/stephen-jenkinson-how-to-die-well/id1548626341?i=1000606356377" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“death walker” Stephen Jenkinson</a>, which also goes into some of the themes in this chat.</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>Watch on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SarahWilson_Wild" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a> or <a href="https://sarahwilson.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Substack</a></p><p>If you need to know a bit more about me… head to my "<a href="http://www.sarahwilson.com/about" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">about</a>" page</p><p>For more such conversations, subscribe to my<a href="https://sarahwilson.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Substack newsletter</a>, it’s where I interact the most!</p><p>Let’s connect on<a href="http://www.instagram.com/_sarahwilson_" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Instagram</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>