Symbolic Immortality in Ordinary Contexts: Impediments to the Nuclear Era

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Abstract
Lifton's writings indicate that the fear of nuclear holocaust has severely impaired and threatens to negate the traditional modes of symbolic immortality in America. Lifton's research, however, has been limited to extreme contexts, i.e., situations involving people who have actually experienced the modern weaponry of the nuclear era. Data were triangulated in four distinctive American contexts that appeared to be representative with regard to the presence of nuclear symbols. Substantial negative evidence of Lifton's suspicions was found in each context. Reasons are offered concerning why Lifton's findings are not generalizable to America. Contemporary reactions to nuclear extinction will not be understood until knowledge of the processes that impede the effects of the nuclear era is blended with the insights Lifton has generated regarding the psychohistorical forces peculiar to this century.

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