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Mortals

How the Fear of Death Shaped Human Society

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Mortals

By: Ross Menzies, Rachel Menzies
Narrated by: Michael Wahr
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Summary
 Human society is shaped by many things, but underlying them all is one fundamental force - our fear of death. This is the ground-breaking theory explored in Mortals.

The human mind can grapple with the future, visualising and calculating solutions to complex problems, giving us tremendous advantages over other species throughout our evolution. However, this capability comes with a curse. By five to ten years of age, all humans know where they are heading: to the grave.

In Mortals, Rachel Menzies and Ross Menzies, both acclaimed psychologists whose life's work has focused on death anxiety, examine all the major human responses to death across history. From the development of religious systems denying the finality of death, to 'immortality projects' involving enduring art, architecture and literature, some of the consequences of our fear of death have been glorious while others have been destructive, leading to global conflicts and genocide.

Looking forward, Mortals hypothesises that worse could be to come-our unconscious dread of death has led to rampant consumerism and overpopulation, driving the global warming and pandemic crises that now threaten our very existence. In a terrible irony, Homo sapiens may ultimately be destroyed by our knowledge of our own mortality.

'A fascinating tour of our species' attempts across millennia to come to terms with mortality. Mortals offers a stunning glimpse into what our fear of death means for our future. A must-read.'
PROFESSOR THOMAS HEIDENREICH, Esslingen University

'As well as being fascinating, this book can also help you die a better death, and live a better life.'
JULIAN MORROW, comedian, ABC presenter, member of The Chaser team

'A death-defying book from two leaders in the field.'
PROFESSOR DAVID VEALE, King's College London Death & Dying Literary History & Criticism Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Sociology Mental Health
All stars
Most relevant
Very good :) I loved this book so much and helped my process death when needed

Narrator was good

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Loved it. Interesting and easy to listen to. Except for the chapter dealing with Harlow's experiments which was heavy going. I'm glad I stuck with it. A very thorough examination of a fundamental driver of human behaviour.

Fascinating

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This book has beautifully built on my previous knowledge to add to and further develop my understanding of us humans. I will no doubt be leaning on this as a reference and guide for many years to come.

Brilliant thanks!

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An interesting account of how different cultures and religions perceive/celebrate/deal with death. Very educational. Some talking points rehashed through book to create writing cohesion but this is fairly innocuous.
Content warning for the chapter on suicide, it starts with the thoughts of someone contemplating ending their life and is not healthy for anyone with mental health issues.
A good stepping stone to reflect on one's own personal and cultural feelings and traditions surrounding death and a chance to reflect on if those serve to benefit and respect those who have passed.

a good read

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Easy read and very informative. It’s a topic that I’ve never really thought about much before and some of the insights were a real eye opener. I recommend this to anyone wanting an interesting read.

Eye opener

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