(August 15, 2016 at 12:43 pm)Jörmungandr Wrote: While in theory this is true, I don't think that in actual practice it has that much of a stifling effect.
It takes all kinds to make a world. Not everybody is on a search for knowledge. Some just want to live their lives.
I'd add this: most of our lives, as we live them daily, consist of symbolic representations of reality, i.e. myths, anyway. "Mom" as I think of her really isn't that much more representative of reality than the God idea. In fact, everyone could be spoken of as something like: "The compassionate one who nurtures" or "the many unwise ones who stop in the middle of a turn lane, blocking everyone" etc. For the most part, when we interact with humanity, it's on a mythological level rather than a real physical one.
Even if I fight, it's not "This boy chooses to fight this man," it's "That evil piece of shit must be taught the rules of my world."
We say that the Greek gods are archetypes of various aspects of humanity. However, you could say that each of us is a conglomeration of eternal ideas that rise and fall with each generation.
Hmmm. . . as usual, more words than I'd intended. But I'd say that the religious perspective really isn't that far from a secular perspective, except only for the God idea.
