Grave Concerns: How Fear of Death Built Civilization
- Anisa Chandra
- Oct 6
- 5 min read
By: Anisa Chandra
Humans are the only species aware of their inevitable death. And because of this, we’re the only species experiencing “death anxiety” - a term referring to the discomfort or dread that many of us feel regarding the idea of mortality. As described by expert Rachel Mienzes, while some of us may be conscious of death anxiety’s manifestations in our day-to-day lives, it often appears in ways that we don’t notice upon first glance. For example, answering questions regarding death makes people more hostile towards those of different racial or religious backgrounds.¹ However, death anxiety does more than emphasize microaggressions - our fear of death has influenced culture, religion, politics, and human progress as a whole.
Different from death itself, the idea of death anxiety has been around for as long as humans have. Most historians estimate that it stemmed from cavemen being forced to run for their lives as they were chased by animals, but the first written proof of death anxiety dates to about 4000 years ago. The Epic of Gilgamesh a king who witnesses the death of a close friend, and in fear of suffering the same fate, does everything he can to become immortal. This same theme parallels Roman and Greek works as well, but somewhere between Julius Caesar and Joe Biden, the popular opinion on death shifted. Instead of the process of treating the dead being similar to that of a ritual - the dead would be bathed, cared for, and prayed upon in many ancient societies - death has become a taboo topic. Instead of dying amongst loved ones, and knowing that your body would be sent into the afterlife blessed and cared for, dying relatives often go from nursing homes, to hospitals, to morgues - all while their family attempts to cover it up. According to Mienzes, author of How the Fear of Death Shapes our Society, this separation between life and death has increased our fear of it, and therefore, our death anxiety.²
Similarly to how people cope with most heavy topics in their life, billions across the world turn to religion to ease their death anxiety. As reported by JMU graduate Catherine Munn, belief in an afterlife, or reincarnation, has proven to be a buffer against death anxiety.³ This is due to moral reciprocity, otherwise known as reward for moral behavior and punishment for immoral behavior.⁴ Almost all religions treat life as simply preparation for either death or another life, which caters towards those with death anxiety because it allows them to see death as a reward for their work in this life, in contrast to it being seen as something to fear. Aside from religion, many turn to cultural ceremonies to ensure peace after death. In fact, during the Roman Empire, the notion of spilling blood was seen as a purification ritual. To families, it secured their loved ones a place in their desired afterlife. Christian martyrs participated in this ritual as well, suggesting that no matter what separates us, we’ll all come together in matters of life and death.⁵
But how has death anxiety caused the shaping of civilizations as we know them today? Perhaps the most obvious form is through immortality projects - either the belief in immortality through religion, or symbolic immortality in terms of creating a legacy. Artists create art, mathematicians develop formulas, and astronauts go to space to be remembered for what they did, even when they aren’t physically on this earth anymore. Children can be immortality projects as well; there’s a reason so many families are interested in “passing down the family name”, after all.⁶ Though this may paint death anxiety as creating a positive impact on society through the creation of immortal ideas and structures, there’s most definitely another side to this coin, most commonly seen through death cults. Take a look at the infamous Adolf Hitler - born into a family in which his father’s first two wives and his mother's first three children all died before his birth, and in which his mother, father, and younger brother all died before he turned 18. He became obsessed with death, killing over 6 million Jewish people through concentration camps, and millions of others across the world through a bloody war.⁷ Death undoubtedly affected him, causing him to project his insecurities onto others by not only taking drastic measures to ensure his own safety, but also seemingly “making up” for the deaths in his close family by watching others suffer the same fate at his hand.
While some dictators used death anxiety as motivation for them to create their respective regimes, others used death anxiety as a way to suppress oppression and control their citizens. To quote renowned journalist Jason McMahon, "Awareness of mortality can lead people to favor charismatic leaders and figures who uphold their cultural worldview, as a way to gain a sense of meaning and symbolic immortality. Death reminders increase polarization, making people demonize those with opposing beliefs as threatening their worldview.”⁸ By creating things such as public executions, or establishing the idea of death constantly looming as a punishment for disobedience, citizens are constantly reminded of how short their time on Earth can truly be - increasing their obedience for the very leader trying to kill them. The story of Farris Sabbah describes just this; she grew up in Iraq during the regime of Saddam Hussein, and she and her family were forced to remain silent in fear of having their lives taken from them. Not only was the constant reminder of their mortality forcing them to turn to their leader for safety, but it also fuelled their obedience.⁹ However, some leaders have managed to leverage death anxiety in a more creative manner - state sacrifice, which led to symbolic immortality for the dead. Take a look at kamikaze during World War ll, young Japanese men who sent their planes crashing onto American ships, taking their lives in the process. As observed by speaker E. Ohnuki-Tierney, “the…Japanese government…strove to aestheticize military actions, especially sacrifice for the emperor, with the master trope of 'thou shall fall like beautiful cherry petals”. By promising symbolic immortality to those who died for their country, the Japanese government was able to create a powerful, submissive regime.
As much as death anxiety has manifested itself historically, however, how can we see it in modern society? Arguably, the most well-known is the act of performing death-defying stunts. Mienzes states that when we’re reminded of death, we often turn to the things we see as central to ourselves. So for the large portion of people that consider themselves risk-takers, they cope with their death anxiety through, as hypocritical as it may be, taking death-defying risks.¹⁰ Death anxiety also manifests itself through the act of medical advancements, which are often used as an attempt to conquer death. As I mentioned earlier, I invite you to examine the way many of our loved ones have sadly passed away - in hospital beds, surrounded by doctors, attempting to live out their last moments, alone. Our death anxiety is so bad that even when we know we’re going to die, we’re in such denial that we sacrifice the opportunity to die surrounded by loved ones to instead die surrounded by modern medicine that may extend our lifespan by mere minutes in a critical state. And lastly, in the digital age, it's imperative to look at digital immortality - the promise of immortal life through digital means.¹¹ We’ve become so desperate that we’d rather consider a miserable life void of any physical presence than no life at all. Isn’t that something?
To conclude, it’s becoming increasingly more apparent that death anxiety truly is the “hidden architect” of the world as we know it. The idea was first noted down almost 4000 years ago, and since then, we’ve watched it shape almost every world religion, global empire, and modern society. Whether that’s for the better, though? I’m gonna leave that choice up to you.
References:
10.6.2025
Comments