Fear of death behind climate change denial - SmartPlanet

Fear of death behind climate change denial - SmartPlanet

A paper by Cornell scientist Janis L. Dickinson is drawing new attention as an explanation for the rise in climate science denial.

(It’s all explained by Zero Mostel in this classic episode of The Muppet Show.)

In The People Paradox, published last year at Ecology and Society, Dickinson follows up on Ernest Becker’s 1973 work The Denial of Death, suggesting that when people are confronted by death they often react by shoring up their worldview, rejecting anyone or anything which threatens it, and focusing on self-esteem.