In 1974, psychologist Ernest Becker won the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Denial of Death, wherein he argues that everything we think of as society — from the cities we construct to the religions we believe in — is nothing more than an elaborate psychological defense mechanism against this knowledge. And a great many researchers agree. Today, our fear of death, what is technically called “death anxiety,” is considered the most fundamental of human motivators, the very drive that drives us most.
