Sheldon Solomon on death, psychiatry, existentialism, politics | Thing in itself w/ Ashar Khan

Sheldon Solomon is an American social psychologist at Skidmore College. He is known for developing terror management theory, along with Jeff Greenberg and Tom Pyszczynski, which is concerned with how humans deal with their own sense of mortality.
0:00 intro
2:18 death
7:03 experimental psychology meets existential philosophy
15:50 positive psychology
29:22 is psychiatry based on a dysfunction model?
33:53 cultural values
45:44 the role of economic and political structures
53:04 Hobbes, Locke, and political theory
56:53 Nietzsche and the fleeting now
1:01:54 Heidegger
1:11:55 future of terror management theory
Solomon, Greenberg, and Pyszczynski. The Worm at the Core: On the role of Death in Life (2015)
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[@CharlesWinnip]

The world desperately needs to hear about Ernest Becker and Sheldon Solomon! Thank you for bringing on Sheldon on!

[@Thinginitselfpodcast]

Thanks so much!

[@hanskung3278]

Why?

[@cristynjenkins]

Very interesting! I would consider myself an existentially-informed life coach so it's interesting to hear Sheldon Solomon speak about the limitations of psychiatry/psychology in terms of giving you answers.

[@ardentmortal2617]

Great interview with Solomon. He is able to articulate (and yourself) everything so well, that it is digestible. Thank you.

[@Thinginitselfpodcast]

Thank you

[@yukonnoka]

The problem with which we find ourselves now is really this… there are too many of us. Each individual craves territory for them and for whomever they consider their family. People do not fear death so much as they do a neutering of their robust desire to expand their own personal brand of territory. This is what really leads to wars. It’s what drove the settlers to wipe out the Native Americans. It’s what drove Native Americans to attack one another. It’s what causes us now to continually expand our lust for physical possessions despite dire consequences for our own children and other species. The elites who hold the most territory have set up a dishonest hamster wheel system tricking those below them into continually reaching out for elusive territorial gain. This is the social engine which transports goods and services to them at the top of the tower. It is only when we see this thirst for power and territorial placement within each and every one of us that we can do anything about transforming our own fates. Religion is a kind of primitive attempt at this transcendence. Recognition of sin and being “born again” and accepting the futility of territorial gain, etc… But considering our numbers I think for the time being (because we cannot all be Buddhist monks, lol) … the only real viable solution to our existential survival question is to divert this territorial drive within ourselves away from a material territory and gradually toward a more transcendental and intellectual territory. In fact religion was probably initially a survival technique in which the drive for territory, which has always been extremely costly in both time and physical risk, could be diverted toward the imagination… creating a kingdom in the sky or in the dream world. This freed up a colossal amount of energy and psychological strain and allowed for the advancement of our species. Unfortunately as religion began to manifest itself within the context of nationality and material wealth it became a true force for evil and violence and continued territorial battle over physical property which continues to this day. What we need now is a return to this old time religion which seeks for a more spiritual and poetic expansion of limitless metaphysical property. We had a taste of this in the 60’s. The material needs of people (in the pre neoliberal post war era) were taken care of a little bit better than they are now. People could earn a physical living a bit easier than now. This freed up an enormous amount of energy for the brilliant blossoming of a tremendous amount of fascinating cultural capital.

[@yukonnoka]

And hopefully the true end result of all this personal expression will be the mind blowing conclusion that hey, what do you know, “me” was really “we” all along.

[@bulletinvid]

Wonderful ❤

[@johnmitchell8925]

I really really enjoyed this talk🙃😊

[@PinyataSpirit]

amazing

[@johnhelm6231]

Good job five stars

[@johnmitchell8925]

I bet Sheldon had and still has some wild Times

[@hanskung3278]

I'd have to disagree that self esteem is derived from the values of the dominant culture.

[@michaellabbe2873]

Then where from?

[@hanskung3278]

@@michaellabbe2873 First of all, if I get my self worth from the people around me then I'm dependent on those people and all that goes along with being dependent. I believe that self worth can come from having a religious perspective, which frees a person from the relativity, contingency and whims of others.

[@rearabetsoemoduane]

@@hanskung3278 Self worth isn’t self-esteem. And in any case, religion is a constituent of culture.

[@hanskung3278]

@@rearabetsoemoduane What the difference between self worth and esteem? Culture is a substitute for God.

[@hanskung3278]

I just don't understand Heidegger, how can coming to terms with death as the end of everything give life purpose?

[@TJ-kk5zf]

Is it narcissistic to imply that you are morally better than most Americans and certain politicians with easy cynical condescending remarks?

[@michaellabbe2873]

No.

[@TJ-kk5zf]

@@michaellabbe2873 of course it is

[@johnmitchell8925]

This guy looks like he's only in his 50s