New Mythologies

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smoking revolver
Valued Senior Member
Any mythology basically has 3 functions:
1) The Philosophical (world viewing)
2) The Cosmological (world knowing)
3) The Sociological (living in the world)

But, if just one factor changes dramatically, the whole thing starts to break apart.
From the start of the scientific-industrial revolution in the 19th century our world has changed tremendously in a very short time.

We now know a lot more about Cosmology, so the 3 level universe doesn't work any more.
Because of the technological progress, our society has changed too and the world we live in. This is the information age, where instant communications and freedom to share information is unprecedented.

The result is that, as I said, many of the old mythologies are not working,
except maybe Buddhism and, though less, upanishadic Hinduism which are in tune with our current scientific understanding of the world.

But human can not live without a mythology, it's a part of how our brain interprets the world, makes sense of it. And it's a tool that has shaped our societies and civilizations since the earliest times.

So what do you think might be the beginnings of new, forming mythologies today?

One thing that comes into mind is the Eco movement, global climate change, awarness of cause and effect that we have on our planet. So I predict some return to the Earth goddess mythology, but not in a religious manner - more philosophycal, ethical.

One more thing is space exploration. We will probably detect exoterrestrial life form in the next 100 years. We have seen our planet as a heavenly object from other space floating bodies. We will probably have a scientific lab on the Moon and Mars.
That means that the question about our place in the universe will become more pressing, and old myths can't deal with that. Maybe except Buddhism, because it is universal.
So there will probably appear some mythology on the unity and one goal of manking and it's place in the universe.

What else?
 
Buddhism unites believes by having humans in place in the universe.

As for the new myths coming forth...consider this as possibility. Humans settle on Mars, Earth gets destroyed from nukes, Martians than wage war and set back into early ages...sort of like Dark Ages and than come out of a new myth...that life might have come from Earth...seeded by Earth, Mars bloomed =)
 
Avatar said:
Please speak English! :D I don't understand. Besides this is not really a thread about Buddhism.
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well I edited the reply...but, what question are you posing here? What myths will develop and which myths will crumble? :bugeye:
 
John Henry
Casey Jones
Mohandas Gandhi
Nelson Mandella
Louis Farrakhan
Malcom X
Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

The heroes of today are the mythologies of tomorrow.
 
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one_raven said:
John Henry
Casey Jones
Mohandas Ghandi
Nelson Mandella
Louis Farrakhan
Malcom X
Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

The heroes of today are the mythologies of tomorrow.
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hmmm....if such goes than everything will become a myth, all past. Bush in Iraq, snooping for WMD's? a myth. Hitler and death of 6 mil Jews? a myth...
Me being alive and the first astronaut on Mars? a myth....:shrug:
 
draqon said:
hmmm....if such goes than everything will become a myth, all past. Bush in Iraq, snooping for WMD's? a myth. Hitler and death of 6 mil Jews? a myth...
Me being alive and the first astronaut on Mars? a myth....:shrug:
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Exactly.

How tall was Napoleon?
Did Marie Antinette say, "Let them eat cake"? If she did, was she being cruel or sheltered?
Did Kennedy sleep with Marilyn Monroe? Who killed him?
Did John Henry beat the machine?

What is fact?
What is history?
What is myth?
 
Just a few thoughts before crashing to bed.

I remember reading in some book that many heroes what many people thought to be real are a later day creaton, i.e., mythologies often create their heroes.
And many myths have historical persons from different centures participating in one mythhistorical event. I don't remember particular ones, but examples were mentioned in the book - mainly medieval myths.

Of course that doesn't mean that many heroes of mythologies aren't based on real persons, but the events and dates change.

Another thing: I have no idea who 4 of the 7 people you mentioned are, but I probably am aware of some of their ideas that have seeped into our society.
 
"Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this [Gandhi], ever in flesh and blood, walked upon this earth."-Albert Einstein
 
one_raven said:
Exactly.

How tall was Napoleon?
Did Marie Antinette say, "Let them eat cake"? If she did, was she being cruel or sheltered?
Did Kennedy sleep with Marilyn Monroe? Who killed him?
Did John Henry beat the machine?

What is fact?
What is history?
What is myth?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is so, but those aren't mythologies, just mythical/myth like events.
Please see my first post. Mythology is more than one event, it's a system that combines at least those three ingredients.

It has its heroes, sure, but that's only one little aspect.
 
one_raven said:
But if you add up a number of myth like events, you end up with Jesus.
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Jesus alone is not christianity. You have to count in all the rituals they got from the jews and greeks, scriptures and ideas from judaism, structure of the church, organisation, priesthood, various saints interpreting christianity, etc, etc.
I bet more than a few of the new testament events were created long after the death of Jesus by the followers of Jesus.

Of course I am not saying that one man can't create a religion (scientology for example), just that mythology is more than a set of mythological events,
those events have to be put into a logical system and that system has to be applied.
Otherwise it's just a story, a tale.

Just imho.
 
If you try to form a new religion, you will only get the opposition of the old established religions, and you will cause more disagreement ammong the people.
So instead of creating a new religious movement, why not the unification of spirituality? Universal acceptance? We all can live together, we just don´t know it yet.
 
Please read the first post. I am not talking about creating a new religion,
I am talking about Mythologies that form anew naturally. And mythology is not necessarily a religion.
 
Avatar said:
So what do you think might be the beginnings of new, forming mythologies today?
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I don't think you can create a mythology that is thought of as a mythology - the way westerners tend to use the word - by the 'believers'. It will always have an as if quality.

I also do not think that scientific cosmological explanations preclude non-scientific ones, in fact some scientific ideas come to in the 20 century had a better fit with religious cosmology in certain particulars than with former scientific models. Big Bang vs. Steady state, for example. Also portions of QM challenge older scientific criticisms of religion based on locality, retriction of effects, time, dimensions and so on.
 
The eco environment movement certainly seems to be on the way of becoming a full blown mythology.
They already have their scriptures, prophets, myths, science, antagonists, etc.

p.s. As I said, I'm not talking about creating a mythology, but about the new mythologies that form "naturally".
I also do not think that scientific cosmological explanations preclude non-scientific ones
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Good. I do not think like that too. ;)
 
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