A New Generation That Doesn’t Believe In Death

Dr. Jen Gunter, a blogger and gynecologist, discussed with Tonic her recent experience at the New York In Goop Health conference where the mantra was that 'death doesn’t exist'.

Shaya Love, columnist for TONIC, interviewed Dr. Guntner about her recent experience at the New York In Goop Health conference where the mantra was that death doesn’t exist. 

In back-to-back sessions, Gunter told Love, “this theme persisted. The attendees were informed by a variety of professionals throughout the daylong conference: Death. Wasn’t. Real. “It was really death-heavy, and not in what I would consider a medically productive way,” she said. “This was a health conference, not a religion conference, so I’m looking at it from a health perspective.” The speakers included a psychic medium (“death does not exist”) Laura Lynne Jackson, Dr. Eben Alexander, a neurologist who says he died and saw heaven, and Anita Moorjani, who told the audience that cancer could be cured by love”. 

I grew up in the 60s, studied Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s on Death & Dying and lived in the San Francisco area during one of its most celebrate times when people were focused on self-help and learnings. I’ve been to Escalen and Pathwork and watched a friend reborn at The Forum. I’m not naïve, and I do believe in God. Never have I heard such a reckless approach. 

Perhaps in a generation that grew up with hi-tech video games where fighting battles are the norm, and people getting gunned down in our schools make the headlines, our connection with death has changed. While Goop’s line of supplements may be the cure for some, for the rest of us, our efforts to convince people to choose their foods and lifestyles more carefully we point to dying an early and painful death as a primary reason to change behaviors and live a long and healthy life – not to shut our eyes to reality.