Myths?

I've heard that the world today is a world without myths. But, when you look from an other POV, you notice the world today is not a world without myths, but a world which is full of them. Myths we don't notice, Myths that we do believe, and base our lives on, but when it came to talking about them, we have nothing to say.

The first myth everyone believes in, without even hearing it, is perhaps the myth that say "....And finally the man appeared" which is an end to the myth of creation, and a beginning to myth of controlling.

What I want for you in this thread is, to think about your creation myth, think why it reach to an end that make us believe that we are on planet earth to control other creatures lives, and why we think we are superior than others. and of course, post it here.

Anyone who makes the statement that this world is without myths hasn't gone to the movies in the last 50+ years, or picked up a book in over a century. :laugh:

Now, on the matter that you have mentioned regarding the myth that we are suppose to be over other creatures. That is simply proven by the fact that we have no natural enemies. The only "spirit" (we can actually see in the works) which is above us is Mother Nature (Hurricanes, Earthquakes, etc).

Now, if Dinosaurs existed today, we couldn't claim the high ground, because we would not have evolved to the point we are at now. No time to create computers and such if we are constantly trying to find new ways to survive a dino attack.

Well, I agree that today there are many myths. The problem I think is that many people today have ceased to believe in the most popular religions, or religions of their ancestors. The main problem, and in this I agree with Campbell, is that most are myths designed for civilizations different from those we know today, and today many of those myths border on the absurd.

From where I see it, whether you believe it or not you think you're creating a myth, even the big bang theory is a myth if you think about it carefully, is a theory, an explanation for the mystery of the universe, only that scientists call "god" to this kind of explosion and energy that is constantly expanding.

Alethea Thompson wrote: Anyone who makes the statement that this world is without myths hasn't gone to the movies in the last 50+ years, or picked up a book in over a century. :laugh:

You wouldn't said that if you knew that person was Joseph Campbell, would you?

aha I was thinking "doesn't campbell whine about people giving up on myth?"

Indeed we have myths all around us, from books to movies. However we only hear them. Besides the religious myths that we feel we have to follow and live out, there aren't that many myths that stick with us. Even the moveis that we love so much are only felt and heard while the movie is playing.

How ever there is a myth out there that we all live every day. Its the myth that you've been told since you were born. The Myth that we do live out every day. Its constantly whispered in our ear and it says.

"The world was made for man and man was made to rule it"

Some of you might not have heard it in this way but trust me you've heard it. :dry:

It is a theory that man considers himself superior to all other life forms because of his "higher cognative brain function".

While most all life forms can communicate and act by instinct, man can do this plus it can do the most important brain function...Man Can Choose and Man has an EGO!

Basically what this says to me is that man's EGO has lead to a belief that higher brain function is a superior trait, when in reality it is probably one of our greatest downfalls. We toil and we reason and we work til our brains expolde, but in the end we die with what we came in with, nothing.

The myth is that we can become something greater than what we are, just another species of animal on a Blue Rock in the Universe. Another piece of the eternal Force. This is not to say we should not strive to become more intellegent or to invent great things. It is only to keep it in perspective and remember that we are all in this together. War, violence, murder solves no problems and progresses man no further than the base animal we are.

Hence the expression "man is the measure of all things" being a fallacy

Man IS a measure of all things...

But he is a small measurement in scale to the whole of existence.

Remember there is no right or wrong, there is only the Unknown Truth.

True right and wrong is a matter of perspective based on the existing level of knowledge