"Do people still know that they are going to die sooner or later? No. Fortunately, in my humble opinion, they have forgotten that?" (Ch. 14)
The idea of not knowing of one's eventual demise is extremely intriguing to me. How different do you think we would live our lives if we were unaware that consciousness would not go on forever? Do you think anything would change? Would we live life more adventurously or humbly? Consider these questions as if nothing else about the human condition is altered: we are the exact same except lacking in the knowledge of our mortality. How would that impact individuals or societies, if at all?
I imagine that in a world in which our mortality is unknown to us, there might be a relatively smaller global religious presence. I believe that the misgivings that arise with one's cognizance of one's mortality necessitate, in some, a belief system that features a convenient, assuaging 'after-life'. Were my eventual death unbeknownst to me, I'd have less of a concern about writing my magnum opus for which I might posthumously be remembered.
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