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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edwarda who wrote (48632)	8/3/1999 2:08:00 PM
From: E	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

<<<I believe that our culture does benefit from clarity and nuance rather than cherished myth.>>> And the discussion of the utility of myth in unifying a populace, or of the costs and benefits of retaining cherished myths, can't be held as though what was at issue were simply the phenomenon of our being accidental beneficiaries of delightful illusions. Myth-maintenance for unity cannot be distinguished in principle , or ethically, from myth-making for unity. China comes to mind. Stalinism comes to mind. It's hard for me not to see any support of myth-maintenance as related to the depressing attitudes revealed in a recent poll on the First Amendment. Shockingly high percentages of the American public support, for example, government licensing of reporters.

To: Edwarda who wrote (48632)	8/3/1999 3:56:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

As every great teacher knows, the best way to teach the young is through stories, fables, etc. The fable of the grasshopper and the ant is more instructive to a child -- and to most adults -- than a dissertation on the economic consequences of profligacy and the conservation of resources. I think that certain societal myths are both necessary and beneficial. In fact, there is a good case to be made that the deliberate destruction of many aspects of our societal mythology has caused -- perhaps in come cases intentionally -- much of the polarization which infests society today. People who share a common values mythology are more unified, more societally adjusted. (Look at Japan for a good example.) Obviously, as with all things, there must be a balance. But the work of Joseph Campbell and Eric Ericson, among others, is, IMO, ignored at our peril.