This is a very long interview so I excerpted only a tiny bit that illustrates the overall topic. It makes good sense to me that what we're seeing in the political sphere is partly the psychological effects of heightened uncertainty and increased fear of death.
It naturally follows that appeals to rational and logical thought has little meaning when people feel increased fear.
This Mortal Coil
Sheldon Solomon On How Fear Of Death Affects Our Lives
We are living in a time of extreme insecurity and multiple threats to our existence: COVID-19 and its variants, massive fires and floods due to global warming, and increasing violence perpetrated by extremists...
...
Becker says what humans do, quite ingeniously, to manage that existential terror is to embrace “cultural worldviews” — a set of values and beliefs that we share with other people. These reduce our anxiety by providing a sense that the world has meaning and that, by embodying these values, we can play a valuable role in the world. That’s what gives us the psychological fortitude to make our way through life.
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Because existential threats tend to make people double down on core beliefs, they do encourage fundamentalism, and that’s a potent political tool that politicians have used with ruthless effectiveness throughout history.
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There is ample evidence of the value of gratitude and humility. Recent studies have shown that genuine humility — not just self-deprecation — appears to buffer death anxiety as much as self-esteem.
It naturally follows that appeals to rational and logical thought has little meaning when people feel increased fear.
This Mortal Coil
Sheldon Solomon On How Fear Of Death Affects Our Lives
We are living in a time of extreme insecurity and multiple threats to our existence: COVID-19 and its variants, massive fires and floods due to global warming, and increasing violence perpetrated by extremists...
...
Becker says what humans do, quite ingeniously, to manage that existential terror is to embrace “cultural worldviews” — a set of values and beliefs that we share with other people. These reduce our anxiety by providing a sense that the world has meaning and that, by embodying these values, we can play a valuable role in the world. That’s what gives us the psychological fortitude to make our way through life.
...
Because existential threats tend to make people double down on core beliefs, they do encourage fundamentalism, and that’s a potent political tool that politicians have used with ruthless effectiveness throughout history.
...
There is ample evidence of the value of gratitude and humility. Recent studies have shown that genuine humility — not just self-deprecation — appears to buffer death anxiety as much as self-esteem.