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TV / DocFilm

Documentary Film

GREED - A Fatal Desire

Watch video 91:11

ANXIETY | Sheldon Solomon

Man - an anguished being? Could it be that the knowledge of his own mortality is the unseen but possibly decisive motivating force behind human action?

ANIMAL | Sarah Brosnan

Even if it is difficult to admit it, the human being is in a way still just an animal. An animal with needs and impulses – controlled by hormones, nerve reflexes and instincts.

EGO | Pops Mohamed

We live in a society where everyone thinks he is the center of the universe. Empathy and modesty are give way before the self-assertion of the individual.

HAPPINESS MACHINE | Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche

From childhood on, we are conditioned to compare ourselves to others, to want more, to want something new or to try something better. Shopping becomes our favorite hobby. But are we confusing consumption with happiness?

MONEY | Philip Chiyangwa

What money, gold and gems can do to us charts millennia of human history. Money is not only a medium of exchange and a unit of account. It is also magical: it means power, control and omnipotence.

COLLAPSE | Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq

The causes of climate change can be found especially in our ruthless exploitation of resources. The evolution of the human brain doesn’t seem to have given us the ability to think ahead.

More Information

Sheldon Solomon - Psychologist

Sheldon Solomon's 'Terror Management Theory' based on Ernest Becker's ideas

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq - Shaman

Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche - Buddhist Teacher

Rudolf Elmer - Ex-Banker and Whistleblower

Whistleblower Network

Johannes Hewig - University of Würzburg

Sarah Brosnan - Primatologist

Kelly Sutton - Founder of the "Cult of Less"

Pops Mohamed - Musician

Pops Mohamed (Music Agency)

Watch video 03:03

Bonus Clips

GREED: The psychology of money, happiness and eternal life

The old mortal sin Greed seems to be more ubiquitous than ever. Why can’t people ever get enough, where is this self-indulgence leading, is there a way out of this vicious circle of gratification? A search for answers...

From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Sheldon Solomon (USA) - On the Trail of Human Greed

Social psychologist Sheldon Solomon thinks he knows why humans are perpetually striving for validation and recognition. “It's the subliminal awareness of one's own transience, the loss of the ego. In the end, fear of death creates culture,” he says. “A society that affords such a high status to wealth is encouraging greed.”
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Johannes Hewig (Germany) - The Financial Crisis in the Lab - Can We Measure Greed?

Some people seem to find it easy to take huge economic risks. What role do emotions play in this process and what mechanisms take place in the brain? “Pleasant feelings such as euphoria trigger over-exaggerated risk responses. And winning intensifies them even more – because of the reward response in the brain,” says Johannes Hewig, psychologist at the University of Würzburg.
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Phillip Chiyangwa (Zimbabwe) - Entrepreneurship, Ostentation and Good Deeds

Businessman Phillip Chiyangwa is thought to be one of the richest men in Africa. One of his nicknames is “The Godfather of Black Empowerment.” Chiyangwa loves to show off his generous support for charities and educational establishments. But his rise from poor vegetable seller to multi-millionaire is controversial – he has been accused of crooked practices and reveling in luxury in poor Zimbabwe.
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Sarah Brosnan (USA) - Simian Food Jealously

When primatologist Sarah Brosnan studies the behavior of her capuchin monkeys in her laboratory at the University of Atlanta, she's instinctively reminded of the greedy brokers and managers who constantly compare their incomes and bonuses with those of their colleagues. “Oh dear,” she says. “One gets a sweet grape, but the other just a piece of pepper!”
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Rudolf Elmer (Switzerland) - Ex-Banker und Whistleblower

Rudolf Elmer is seen as an enemy of the state in his homeland. For years, his former employer, the Swiss bank JULIUS BÄR, has been trying to prove he's a criminal. For a long time, they followed his every move. His offense: Elmer, who for two decades worked as a bank manager in a variety of places including the Cayman Islands, exposed what he called the “system of greed”.
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Jetsun Khandro Rinpoche (India) - The Way of Letting Go

Khandro Rinpoche is an outstanding Buddhist spiritual teacher. “Today's lifestyle,” she says, “suggests to each individual that he is the most important thing in the universe. We lose sight of ourselves, cling to things and suppress the realization that everything is impermanent. This constant self-denial creates neuroses - and the worst of them is greed”.
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Kelly Sutton (USA) - Life as a Minimalist

On his website “Cult of Less,” New York programmer Kelly Sutton calls for a lifestyle decoupled as much as possible from material goods and offers to give away everything he doesn't need. “No question: I have felt free and much happier since then. Many just don't realize that this lifestyle really enriches you. You just have to try it!”
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Eben Alexander (USA) - A Near-Death Experience

The renowned Harvard neuroscientist has the simplest formula against indulgence and greed: “Memento mori! The funeral shroud doesn't have any pockets.” In 2008, Alexander lost consciousness and lay in a coma for days. This near-death experience changed his life, he says. “When the fear of death disappears, selfishness and greed also disappear.”
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Pops Mohamed (South Africa) - Musician and Philosopher

Pops Mohamed is one of South Africa's most renowned musicians - many even call him “South Africa's Minister of Music.” When he talks to his students, he tells them to question the personal ego in particular. They have to interview themselves in the mirror, and can only do it by candlelight at night. "Who are you? Why are you there? What is your purpose in life?”
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq (Greenland) - The Wisdom of the Shamans

As an Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder, Angaangaq has been elevated to the highest rank of the shaman. He constantly invites people from all over the world to his home, not just to remind them of the effects of climate change but also to bring them closer to Nature's energies and so embark on a journey inward. His message: “Melt the ice in your heart!”
From Shaman to Banker – The Protagonists

Michael von Brück (Germany) - The Inflation of the Ego

“The constant WANTING TO HAVE,” says religious scholar and ZEN-teacher Michael von Brück, “makes people run like hamsters in a wheel, so they never return to their senses.” The theologian recommends regular meditation to reach a “wakefulness of consciousness” as a remedy for egotistical greed and addiction” and taking the term Nirvana – “The expansion of the ego” – quite literally.