The Denial File
What We Can't Think About—and Why
Getting Drunk on Osama
Kirby Farrell | May 12, 2011
Listen, pal. Osama bin Laden’s dead. Somebody just told me about a bar that’s begun serving “Osamas” – some sort of fruity blast of alcohol …
The Single Hound
Bruce Floyd | May 5, 2011
Below you will find the poem with the phrase “single hound” in it. It’s a metaphor for self-consciousness, that creature, entity, phenomenon (you call it, …
Thoughts on the Death of Osama bin Laden
Daniel Liechty | May 2, 2011
The news this morning is that Osama bin Laden is dead. He chose to live by the sword, and so it has come about that …
Product of the Ukraine (Strawberries from Chernobyl)
Henry Richards | April 28, 2011
Today is the 25 year anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. In my last post, I coined the term Irrational Radiation Stigma (IRS) to describe …
The Consolation of “The Sandman”
Bill Bornschein | April 26, 2011
A hazard of working with Ernest Becker’s ideas is that they can increase the anxiety of being trapped in the human condition. Without the comfort …
Anyone Can Whistle!
Daniel Liechty | April 21, 2011
One of the most startling ideas of the existential psychoanalytic tradition confronts us with is that “normal mental health” is itself a form of pathology. …
Thinking Through Violence
Kirby Farrell | April 18, 2011
In a recent post I called attention to the way media and public thinking often *use* violence as shorthand to mark a disruption in everyday …
The Long Arm of the IRS (Irrational Radiation Stigma) all the way from Japan
Henry Richards | April 14, 2011
This April 15, consider a different IRS, one Made in Japan. Will an additional burden be imposed on Japan in the form of irrational fears …
Depositing Religion On The Doorstep of Psychology
Bill Bornschein | April 11, 2011
The title of this blog is a reversal of Ernest Becker’s famous statement that psychology deposits us on the doorstep of religion. He was speaking …
Frostbite: The New Jane Eyre
Kirby Farrell | April 7, 2011
Like To Kill a Mockingbird, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre haunts the corridors of American education. The plucky orphan Jane survives abuse, rejection, betrayal, and …
A Randy Generation
Daniel Liechty | April 4, 2011
I am continually amazed that thinking adults are attracted to the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and I shudder to think how influential this philosophy …
Lethal Inspection
Cory Foster | March 31, 2011
One of my favorite television programs is an animated series called Futurama. It follows the life of a late-20’s slacker named Fry who finds himself …
Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down
Bill Bornschein | March 28, 2011
The Christian observance of the season of Lent, the period of spiritual preparation leading up to Easter Sunday, is inaugurated by the sacramental known as …
Seeing Through Violence
Kirby Farrell | March 24, 2011
Instead of grumbling about violence in media and the movies, lets consider what sort of work it’s doing. Granted, this is the United States, where …
Religion Versus Spirituality?
Daniel Liechty | March 21, 2011
The most recent Point of Inquiry podcast was a very interesting discussion about the increased use of the term “spiritual” to describe oneself, as opposed …
Today’s Secret Word is “Triage”
Kirby Farrell | March 18, 2011
You’re not fooled. You read the news. You know that “the unemployment rate” is higher than it’s been in decades. Chances are, you also recognize …
Pre-Death Anxiety
Daniel Liechty | March 14, 2011
One of my students recently posed an interesting question. Does Ernest Becker’s idea about the denial of mortality and death being at the root of …
Observations From Egypt
Henry Richards | March 10, 2011
In mid- November, I was with my spouse wandering around (and around) Tahrir square and thereabouts, lost trying to find the Egyptian Museum. That led …
Darling, There’s a Cannibal at the Door
Kirby Farrell | March 7, 2011
Think for a moment about what slavery is. No, not just black folks in chains all their waking lives, but slavery as control of another …
Welcome To the Machine
Bill Bornschein | February 28, 2011
A student of Ernest Becker could not help but be intrigued by the recent Time cover story, “2045-The Year Man Becomes Immortal.” It turns out …