Spiritual Elevation
Terror Management Theory
Most of what you chase is a defense against death.
Grounded in the research on terror management theory
the gist
Humans are the animal that knows it's going to die, and that knowledge is terrifying. To manage the dread, we cling to worldviews and chase 'symbolic immortality' — legacy, status, belief, being part of something that outlasts us.
the science
Built by Greenberg, Pyszczynski and Solomon in the 1980s on Ernest Becker's 'The Denial of Death.' Hundreds of 'mortality salience' studies show that reminding people of death makes them defend their group harder, grip their worldview tighter, and reach for status and meaning.