Discussion: “Dream and the Wish for Immortality”

In this discussion of the paper by Dr. Arnold Richards, “Dream and the Wish for Immortality,” the author discusses primal denials and universal primal denials—denials of overwhelming realities such as our fragility and our eventual death, which we all share. The nature of these denials is discussed. The shattering of these denials leads to trauma, and this aspect of death and reactions to the fear of death is also discussed. It is suggested that there is an inborn core to human fear of death, which is then built on and elaborated in later development.