Across the span of human history and cultures, the power of myth has exercised universal influence. Since the Enlightenment, that power has perhaps been disparaged as much as any other ‘unscientific’ intellectual trait. We have indeed come to worship so-called hard data and seek to be as ‘rational’ as possible.
Myths are recognized as story-telling from our distant past as a species. While they may have influenced our evolution as humanity, their value is seen as largely poetic – and few 21st century people would vote for poets as ‘essential workers’ If we are to look at tribalism in an honest way, though, we need to at least glance at myth. Each of the peoples making up the human population of earth has its mythic dimension. All around the world, there are equivalent stories – myths handed down across many generations.
We should note that one of the elements that binds a tribe is its “shared knowledge,” what “everybody knows” – where “everybody” signifies all those who truly count, that is, the members of the tribe itself. Wisdom, in turn, entails being suffused with that knowledge, internalizing it, grounding one’s relationships and behaviors in the traditional knowledge passed down across the generations.
I have therefore started a segment of my “Transcending Tribalism” project examining “Myth and Truth.” I am posting my writing-to-date in the Philosophy/Theology page of this website. It is only a start, but as it is already becoming somewhat lengthy this is a good time to put it out there for your comments.
This section begins with “origin stories” often called Creation Myths. So many of us are familiar with the Genesis stories in the Bible, but virtually all cultures (tribes) tell such stories. Let me just give the “bullet point” commentary of such origin stories:
· The myths seek, in some systematic way, to draw understanding from human experience
· They do so from an attitude of humility: the fact that there is something rather than nothing is not due to the prowess of humankind
· We inhabit a world that is complex and relational
· Our experience in that world is a matter both of fact and of meaning
· The frequent similarities in the myths, and their apparent independence in development, appears to point to some common foundation, what has been termed transcendental attributes, or categories that have universal application
· While providing a certain comfortable orientation for those accepting the myth, the stories demand that adherents seek to grasp a larger whole than the everyday practicalities, invoking a difficult search for meaning that requires transcending mere facticity (‘that’s just the way it is’).
I do then turn to something more specific: the mythology of the ancient Greeks. Where the more universal forms of myth, such as the creation myths, provide a mental framework for a relationship with the world as we experience it, the Greek tradition provides us with imagery and vocabulary that helps us name and understand powerful forces within humanity itself. The very term “psyche” that we use to name our inmost self stands for a Greek goddess whose spouse, interestingly enough, was Eros, the god of love. There are literally dozens of such mythological personalities: human emotions, personality attributes, or spiritual activities considered as mythic figures.
I summarize my look at what myth teaches about our human experience, at an individual level, in this abbreviated form:
· Just about every reflective human being experiences these powerful internal forces. We are better off for being able to name them.
· While we are often lost in the tasks of everyday life – and focus our attention there – humans are prone to the influence of strong and often conflicting capacities, sometimes below the level of awareness
· In our dealings with others, then, those influences can be expected to be present
· When we find ourselves in conflict with others, we might consider such strife to echo a similar (and sometimes identical) conflict within ourselves
· With such a realization, we can access something transcendental – namely attributes that we share in our human nature
· On the basis of such self-awareness, we may be able to rise above the very real divisions we experience, transcending the animosities, fears, viciousness, thoughtlessness, and violence toward a greater integration of our individual personalities and our collective identities.
From this simple overview it is readily apparent that myths as developed in societies ranging from so-called “primitive” cultures to the relatively sophisticated urban societies of the classical world display a remarkable complexity and richness. But what, if anything, do they have to offer us today, particularly in addressing and overcoming the deep divisions in 21st century America?
Truthfulness and Myth
We face a key obstacle in the way “myth” is used in ordinary language. Many, perhaps most, people would accept the definition of myth as “any fictitious story or unscientific account, belief, or theory” that is one of the meanings reported in the dictionary. Even in the most positive connotations there is sense of impracticality, unreality, quixoticism in applying the word “myth” in common English.
All of this pushes in the direction of making “myth” an opposing term to “truth.” This is not only a misunderstanding, but it is a destabilizing force in society. Why is this so? Remember the transcendental dimension we found in both creation myths and in myths at the level of the person. We call “transcendental” those attributes held in common – and that common bond is an essentially stabilizing force. Its persistence in time is what gives rise to the meanings associated with tradition (a conservative force) as well as those connected with creativity (a forward-pushing force). If socially and personally the force of myth offers us common ground in both the traditional and creative senses, then it may help us get beyond a tribalism that identifies solely with one or another of those meanings.
We must take a serious look at truth as a transcending dynamic – an activity that we engage in (indeed, that we live) – rather than a possession that we have.
Without at all denying the facts as we encounter them in the world, a transcending perspective tells us we can only understand those facts within the horizon of a wider context. That horizon requires us, on a personal level, to make of our experience a cohesive and coherent narrative, not a mere sequence of momentary facts. A sane personality requires integration, and a sustainable society likewise requires a higher, integrating perspective.
The mythic narratives impress upon us a common ground and an expansive drive that cannot be said to rest easily with simple facts simply accounted for. They are, rather, narratives that impel us as occasions for thinking. They only initially make us comfortable by familiar re-telling; upon reflection they ignite a profound restlessness of thought. It is in our search for meaning that we seek an encounter with the truth-value of mythic narrative.
The American Saga
The standard “origin narrative” (akin to a creation myth) of America hearkens to the story of English colonists coming to Massachusetts and Virginia in search of liberty. The narrative advances with the story of the American colonists, after considerable forbearance, throwing off the shackles of colonialism in the Revolutionary War, led by the remarkable generation that issued the Declaration of Independence and crafted the estimable Constitution of the United States. We might call this the “1776 account”.
A growing counter-narrative, and one that is an origin narrative that sustains another set of beliefs, might be termed ‘the 1619 account’. This is named for the New York Times long-form journalism project that seeks to re-frame the traditional account by setting the critical event as the arrival in Virginia of the first slave ship a year before the landing of the Mayflower in Massachusetts. The perspective shift includes not only the “original sin” story of slavery and the treatment of the black population, but also the appropriation of land from the indigenous peoples, their subjugation and forcible relocation, and the introduction of virulent diseases that drastically reduced their populations.
Our tribalism is marked by the degree to which one or the other of these narratives “rings true” to each of us. But what is important to recall is that each is a selective story that crafts meaning from certain facts – the key words being ‘selective’ and ‘meaning’.
As I proceed in the selection I’m posting on the Philosophy/Theology page, I elaborate on the tendency to cynicism and skepticism we encounter so often. As with the myths, however, a closer look at what the ancients understood as a Cynic or a Skeptic may turn out to be surprising. (I remind my students all the time the ‘there is no reason to do research unless you are willing to be surprised.’ If you already have all the answers, why bother?)
So let’s again pause for a recapitulation, as this segment of the study hits approximately its midpoint:
· We consider Pilate’s troubling question, “Truth. What is that?” and are prompted to keep an enlarged sense of truth in mind, rather than trying to reduce it to a minimal concept.
· In the same spirit, we try to keep our investigation as a prod to thinking, rather than seeking to rest in a ‘final answer.’
· We can affirm that that any disciplined approach to truth will deal with an understanding – however provisional – that is strong enough to withstand further inquiry
· We may recognize that experience shows that simply resting comfortably in whatever understanding of the truth that is endorsed by a ‘conventional’ outlook is likely to fall prey to the all-too-human risks of laziness, bias, illogic, or superficiality.
· Keeping these elements in mind, we recognize that ‘to err is human,’ and that this is a transcendental attribute of our species. We should not be surprised then to find such fallibility within our own (tribal) thinking, as well as in the thinking of those of other groups. Such an awareness points us to the usefulness of intellectual humility
· Nevertheless, we find that such humility should not discourage us in the search for truth. Even if we apprehend the world through imperfect sensory experience and with social filters that may shape our access to facts themselves, we find – both historically and in our personal dynamism – a drive toward a higher viewpoint, a transcending of our very real limitations. Indeed, an honest recognition of those limitations is an essential prerequisite for continuing on the path.