The Immortality Project by E. Becker
Drawing on Ernest Becker an immortality project is the human attempt to transcend the reality of death by investing in something believed to endure beyond one’s individual life. Because awareness of mortality creates existential anxiety people seek symbolic forms of continuation through legacy, achievement, relationships, culture, belief or contribution making immortality project a structure of meaning through which a person pursues significance, continuity and a sense of participating in something larger than the finite self.
The Immortality Project was a major interdisciplinary research initiative in 2012-2015 funded with a $5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation that brought together philosophers, neuroscientists, psychologists, theologians and biologists to study human beliefs and experiences related to death and possible forms of 'survival' beyond it. Over its duration it supported 34 research projects worldwide exploring questions such as whether immortality is desirable, how people construct meaning in the face of death and how experiences like near-death phenomena might be understood scientifically and philosophically.
Immortality Project - a structure of meaning and philosophical map on how conscious engagement with mortality can reveal purpose that outlives the self.
Heliconia with Insects (circa 1701-1705) by Maria Sibylla Merian
Some studies found that beliefs about immortality profoundly shape human meaning, ethics, identity and psychological wellbeing with conclusion that immortality is not universally desirable since endless existence could undermine purpose, memory and personal identity whilst other scholars suggested that mortality itself contributes to meaning in human life. Research reports that near-death experiences often produced lasting positive changes in attitudes towards life, empathy and fear of death. Philosophers and religious traditions see meaning as something we create through relationships, work, creativity and moral action as well as a connection to something larger than oneself.
Psychologists often describe meaning through three connected dimensions: purpose (having goals and direction), coherence (feeling that life makes sense) and significance (believing one’s life matters beyond immediate survival or pleasure).
Pineapple with Cockroaches (circa 1701-1705) by Maria Sibylla Merian
PURPOSE
Purpose is the sense that one’s life is directed towards meaningful goals, values or commitments that extend beyond immediate pleasure or survival. It often emerges through relationships, creative work, service, spirituality, learning or dedication to causes larger than oneself.
Ask the question ‘What am I living for’?
COHERENCE
Coherence is a sense of harmony between the self, one’s actions and the surrounding world. In coherence thoughts, values, emotions and goals align in a way that makes life feel understandable and purposeful which allows the states of flow to emerge, a concept developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in which a person becomes deeply absorbed in an activity, loses self-consciousness and experiences complete engagement in the present moment. Effort and purpose are connected and things 'make sense'.
It also includes being in an environment one feels good at - pleasant smell such as that of books, wood, frankinsence, campfire crackling, low noise levels, birds singing in the dawn, beautiful objects, symmetry, sacred geometry, colours, natural light, walking barefoot on the grass, the scent of rain on dry earth, organic materials, fresh air, flowers, plants - all harmonious things.
SIGNIFICANCE
Life is significant because it allows us to experience connection, growth, love, creativity and purpose through relationships, choices and experiences which shape the lives of others and the world itself therefore have lasting effects beyond the self. The significance of life therefore comes from the capacity to matter, to contribute and to participate.
To be born into a body is to be born in time...physical existence binds consciousness to the laws of entropy, change and linear progression.
Immortality is the experience of participation in something transpersonal and enduring within the psyche, it arises when individual life is understood as part of a larger symbolic field - the archetypal patterns of the collective unconscious that transcends personal time. Immortality is the felt sense that what is most essential in a person’s life is not extinguished with the body but continues as meaning, image and transformation within the deeper layer of psyche and culture.
These layers can be understood as different modes of relating to finitude ranging from literal survival to symbolic and psychological transformation.
Biological immortality refers to the fantasy or pursuit of endless physical continuation of the body beyond natural death. This is what transhumanism is definitely about however consciousness research shows the opposite. Many people with transcendental experiences (out of body, near death experiences (NDEs), ego death, mystical states, shamanic journeys to name a few) do not see this one as a goal.
Symbolic immortality describes living on through what one leaves behind - children, creations, works or influence in culture.
Psychological immortality emerges when the ego loosens its centrality and finds continuity in something larger than itself such as identity, meaning or inner wholeness.
Transpersonal immortality points to participation in archetypal or universal dimensions of psyche where the individual experiences themselves as part of an enduring collective field of consciousness.
Existential immortality is a way of being in which life is so deeply aligned with meaning that the fear of nonexistence is lost.
How does awareness of death shape human behaviour for better or worse?
The projects explored how awareness of death shapes human behaviour by showing that mortality can intensify both defensive and constructive responses. Findings from projects in Terror Management Theory (TMT) suggested that reminders of death often increase attachment to cultural beliefs, nationalism, moral judgment, political rigidity and even prejudice or conflict when people feel their meaning systems are threatened.
Other projects found death anxiety can influence health decisions, trauma responses, addiction, consumerism and climate denial often as forms of ‘immortality projects’ that help people seek symbolic permanence through identity, achievement, ideology or control.
However some other research shows that when mortality is confronted rather than denied it can increase compassion, gratitude, prosocial behaviour, spiritual reflection and commitment to sustainable or meaningful living.
Discover your existing immortality project
Marquiaas (circa 1701-1705) by Maria Sibylla Merian
To discover your existing immortality project is to begin noticing the ways you already walk on to extend yourself beyond your finite life. In a Beckerian sense every person is already participating in one or more immortality projects through what they strive for, protect, create or obsess over. It is about uncovering the underlying pattern that already organises your values and behaviour - what you want to be remembered for, what you refuse to let go and what you invest your energies to. By bringing this into awareness the unconscious drive for symbolic continuity becomes visible allowing it to be examined, refined and potentially transformed into a more conscious expression of meaning.
False vs Authentic Immortality
False immortality refers to forms of symbolic continuation that are primarily driven by fear, insecurity or the need to compensate for a threatened sense of self. It seeks permanence through external validation such as status, dominance, rigid identity or control over how one is remembered, often at the cost of authenticity or connection to deeper meaning.
Authentic immortality arises when the desire to endure is no longer rooted in denial of death but in alignment with something intrinsically meaningful. It expresses itself through creation, contribution, love and individuation - acts that naturally outgrow the individual without being forced to ensure significance.
The distinction is psychological - one is constructed from fear of disappearance, the other emerges from participation in what feels genuinely larger than the ego.
Meaning as the living seed
Meaning as the Living Seed can be understood as the moment when existential exploration shifts from confronting mortality to cultivating what grows from it so meaning is a living process - something that takes root in awareness and develops through lived experience. When a person fully encounters their finitude, what remains is the possibility of directing their life energy towards what feels essential, generative and alive. This 'seed' of meaning becomes the organising principle of life - it shapes perception, guides action and unfolds into forms of expression that can outlast the individual as an ongoing influence in other minds, relationships and creations.
To design your personal immortality project is to consciously structure the unconscious impulse towards continuity into a lived path of meaning-making.
In a Jungian frame this becomes an act of individuation - the ego collaborates with deeper archetypal forces of the Self to give form to what seeks expression through you, transforming raw psychic energy into symbolic contribution.
Mythologically it mirrors the hero’s journey - descent into mortality awareness, encounter with shadow, discovery of a guiding calling and return with a 'gift' meant for the collective.
From a scientific perspective, particularly through lenses like TMT it can be seen as the structuring of meaning systems that buffer existential anxiety by anchoring identity in enduring cultural or symbolic frameworks.
Practically this manifests in the following steps - first recognising your implicit immortality drives, second confronting death awareness directly, third identifying the values and archetypes you are already aligned with, fourth distinguishing fear-based pursuits from genuinely generative ones and finally translating this insight into a concrete, evolving contribution that carries your influence beyond your individual lifespan.
Map Your Existing Immortality Project
Start by writing down where you already invest most of your time, energy and emotional charge. List what you want to be remembered for, what you feel proud of, what you obsess over improving and what you would hate to disappear without trace and look for patterns across these answers - this is your current 'immortality project' in action.
Set aside 10-15 minutes and write two short prompts:
'If I died in 5 years what would feel unfinished?' and 'If I died tomorrow, what would matter most?'.
Do not overthink - write quickly and honestly. If you are familiar with Jung's idea of automatic writing this is exactly what we should do here. The goal is clarity about what actually rises to the surface when time is removed.
Reflect on finitude through meditation, journaling, engaging with philosophical or spiritual traditions that normalise death, having conversations about dying or even practical acts like advance care planning or wishes for your own death.
Identify Your Core Archetype in Action
Look at your answers and current life patterns and choose 1-2 archetypal roles you naturally embody (for example the teacher, creator, the healer, the sage, the magician, the trickster, the warrior, the outsider, the lover etc).
You can define this as 'I tend to express myself most through..…'
Fear-Based vs Meaning-Based Drives
Take your current goals and split them into two columns:
'If I didn’t care what others thought I would still want this' vs 'I mainly want this for validation, security or comparison'.
Be honest with yourself.
Conceptualisation
Choose any medium that fits you (writing, visual art, film, design, music, performance, digital space, collages, poetry, structured conversations etc) and treat it as a living artwork.
The goal is ongoing communication - you are continuously shaping and reshaping your inner inquiry into something others can engage with and then in this way your 'immortality project' becomes embodied as a form you are actively building and evolving in the world.
Follow your bliss. If you do follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while waiting for you, and the life you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss, and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be. If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else'
- Joseph Campbell
