Very interesting. Possibly the deepest thing I'll ever hear him say.

Here he makes a case for denial being the "most powerful of human instincts".

He relates a story from 20+ years ago, when he was a journalist in the middle east. The plane he flew on crashed. Despite one of the aircraft's wings having been lost with the engine on fire & burning. One of the flight attendants claimed everything was normal and for everyone to remain seated.

Why? Perhaps the situation was so terrifying and difficult to face, denial was the simplest cope option.

Another historical scenario he comments on is the bolshevik revolution in russia. Perhaps the harsh reality of it was too terrifying to face. And people cope based denialism instead.

Have people changed since then? Has the popularity of hannibal lectar tv series and content traditionally deemed unpleasant or unconsionable increased the human capacity to tolerate horror movie scenarios?

It might make for an interesting discussion.