I'm not sure that death and or our survival instinct is our most powerful driver. I believe our sex drive could be more powerful and or the maternal parental protection instinct? Incidentally, Any sex therapist will inform you, that the sex drive and need etc, is part our us right up until the day before we die! And part of our absolutely normal function as human beings.

The fear of death is routinely trumped by love, seen as many a parent place themselves between their young and the perceived danger.

Know of a crippled dad, with semi-cripple legs, chancing his life, for around an hour, in a surf rip, to go to the rescue of his kid, all while the mother sat on the beach daydreaming about her new future?

Not all maternal instinct is all-consuming or death-defying, but some of it is and absolutely instinctive!

What were you thinking? They ask.

Truth is, none of this is accompanied by the thought, shall I or shan't I, thought process but is immediate and done without a thought about personal danger or any thought of death, save that we don't want the other to experience it!

Of all the instincts that govern behaviour, be it fear of death or death-defying love?

I think love and our natural protective instincts win out! One only need go into any ER to see it on display, hour after hour day after day by seriously exhausted health care workers!

Some exceptions are visible and obviously so, be it a leader consumed by thoughts about protecting ill-gotten gains or power constructs, or others so dehumanised by their own inhumane excesses to care about what happens to other folks? Will therefore, accept much higher casualties if that serves their own economic/power construct agenda?

Take care and stay safe.
Alan B.

I think you will find it is FOOD and the fear of not eating that death brings that drives human behaviour.

Although in the case of Wuhan Bat Soup this might be a bit of a Catch-22.

PS Who is Becker?

Our comfortable lives oft times are shattered by reality.

Humans are designed for insecurity. When the comfort zone is intruded upon, anxiety becomes problematic.
The result of that anxiety is death by suicide: Three thousand a year in Au. People chose death as an alternative to the anxiety of waiting for death.

Interesting choice.

Dan

I don't fear Death.

Here is a metaphor about Death, sung by the beautiful, but sadly died in 2009, Mary Travers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Travers of "Peter, Paul and Mary". The article mentions "Love" - gotta admit I have a "thing" for Mary.

Here tis on video http://youtu.be/IVEATF7VNTk
and words below:

"All my bags are packed,
I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin'
It's early morn
The taxi's waitin'
He's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could cry

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing

Every place I go, I'll think of you
Every song I sing, I'll sing for you
When I come back, I'll wear your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
I'll be on my way

Dream about the days to come
I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say

Kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe I hate to go"

Death will be nothing compared with everlasting joy or everlasting torment. The Man who came back from the dead spoke of both.

Some words of Profound Wisdom on the nature of death and its relation to Conscious life:
http://www.adidaupclose.org/Holy_Mutterances/death_and_dying.html

An essay titled Right Human Life Must Transcend the Materialist Culture of Death which is featured on this reference:
http://www.aboutadidam.org/newsletters/newsletter-february2004.pdf

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the enlightening review. A reminder to me that I need to tone down my reactions to what I perceive as threatening behaviors and situations. It's only the 'primeval reaction' kicking in!

Glad you are still writing.

If this review is accurate of Becker's book, then Becker is not saying that death is the main motivation (over a certain percentage of the other things that motivate us), but instead saying that death is at the core of all of our motivations. A statement that is plainly false. The position is rationalized though by saying that all of the other motivations and focuses out there are mere distractions trying to get away from the fear of death. That rationalization causally acknowledges other motivations, but pits them all in a weakened state instead of actually acknowledging them as more then just distractions.

There are both positive motivations that cause people to move through life in a healthy and positive way, that have nothing to do with death (romance, family bonds, music, ect) as well as other motivations that are darker or bring people down, that also have nothing to do with death. The struggles and worries of the world, issues with trust and distrust, blind greed to ignore the people around them, even great despair that is sometimes focused on to the point that death is not feared any more and instead sought after.

What can be said is that death is a powerful fear, and the closer one is to death the greater it's impact is on our focus. Death is not the root cause for all of our other motivations though. If anyone wants to see stronger impulses then death then they have to look at families, or possibly have one of their own.

Who is Becker?