ABSTRACT
Humans operate and adapt by means of two very different systems of the emotion-processing mind, one linked directly to awareness, the other connected only through encoded images and unseen effects. Hominids have evolved a capacity for both conscious and unconscious perceptions of death-related dangers, and they have developed adaptive resources on both levels. The conscious system—the conscious mind—is well aware of death. It deals with its actualization in the death of others and with the long-term inevitability of personal demise, and it is quite aware of the dire consequences of certain injuries and illnesses. The conscious mind is so attuned manifestly to acute death-related dangers and issues that the extent to which it responds defensively to these situations is difficult to appreciate. In general, conscious-system adaptive responses to a death-related situation are constricted, fairly self-evident, shallow, intellectualized, and relatively fixed and repetitive.
