| json_metadata | "{"app":"musing/1.1","appTags":["life"],"appCategory":"life","appTitle":"Does thinking about death help us to re-prioritize our goals & values in life?","appBody":"<p>Death is generally conceived as destructive and dangerous, fueling everything from prejudice and greed to violence. These are mostly related to terror management theory, which posits that we uphold certain cultural beliefs to manage our feelings of mortality, have rarely explored the potential benefits of death awareness. The potential benefit can bring positive changes and promote helping others. An awareness of mortality can improve physical health.</p>\n<p>There has been very little integrative understanding of how subtle, day-to-day, death awareness might be capable of motivating attitudes and behaviours that can minimize harm to oneself and others and can promote well-being. Death awareness is not a bleak force of social destruction.</p>\n<p>If the cultural value of helping was made important to people, then the heightened awareness of death would motivate an increase in helping behaviours. The awareness of death can motivate increased expressions of tolerance, egalitarianism, compassion, empathy, and pacifism. Increased death awareness can motivate sustainable behaviours when pro-environmental norms are made salient.</p>\n<p>Thinking about death can also promote better health. When reminded of death, people may opt for better health choices, such as using more sunscreen, smoking less, or increasing levels of exercise. Motivations triggered by death awareness can actually improve people's lives, rather than how it can cause malady and social strife. The dance with death can be a delicate but potentially elegant stride toward living the good life.</p>","appDepth":2,"appParentPermlink":"p35wbuysf","appParentAuthor":"sapwood","musingAppId":"aU2p3C3a8N","musingAppVersion":"1.1","musingPostType":"answer"}" |
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