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Animation
The Crippling Fear of Everlasting Life
Feb 08, 2017
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35 videos
Video by
The Atlantic
While many dream of an afterlife, people with apeirophobia are terrified of eternal existence. Where does this fear come from? “I suspect that, in apeirophobia, one comes to the realization that after death you will live forever—if you believe in the afterlife—and in simulating that experience in your mind, one realizes that there is no way to project ahead to forever,” says Martin Wiener, a neuroscience professor at George Mason University. “That experience is, inherently, anxiety-provoking.” In this animation that explores apeirophobia, people who struggle to grasp infinity confess their uncertainty about what happens after death.
Authors: Caitlin Cadieux, Daniel Lombroso
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Short, animated videos from The Atlantic
