Just as death-denial is a defining feature of Human Childhood, death-awareness — what our Tibetan friends call impermanence — is central to Human Adulthood. An adult sees drama unfolding in the dreamstate the way a child sees a TV show; sometimes it’s good and interesting, mostly it’s reruns and minor variations on timeworn themes, but it’s always droning on in the background. It’s not that adults cut themselves off from life but that they don’t view the outer world as very compelling compared to their inner life, just as you probably don’t find a documentary about millions dead in WWII as compelling as a splinter in your own thumb.