sandandfoam
Veteran Member
I don't think it is but I'm interested in other peoples views.
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Is myth any less valuable a tool for living than science?
- Thread starter sandandfoam
- Start date
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
BucephalusBB
ABACABB
There are actually quite some programs to do so..
I agree with Tau here. I think there are lessons found in both, but only one is really capable of moving on..
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
Are the 'truths' contained in myth more consistent over time than the 'truths' contained in science?
Smoke
Done here.
I think myths are interesting and may convey some greater meaning, just as any fiction may, but exactly what are they useful for? That is, what are the things you can do with myths that you can't do without them?
How do those things compare to the things you can do with science and technology that you can't do without them?
How do those things compare to the things you can do with science and technology that you can't do without them?
Bishadi
Active Member
One maybe more philosophical, which transcends time as it shares a human experience. The other evolves with time.
The value of myths share experiences that can be felt.
Science share reality with intent of pure truth; empirical.
So as the myth may survive since universal in 'feelings,' but the sciences evolve and develop until the last word; completing the comprehension; which is also universal.
Smoke
Done here.
What sort of truths are contained in myths?
crystalonyx
Well-Known Member
The problems arise when "myths" are elevated to "truth" status.
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
We can, I think, draw truths relating to the meaning of our lives from myths.
This type of thing.
Myth and Spirituality - Jonathan Young and Joseph Cambell
Smoke
Done here.
Can you give me a specific example?
Do you really need myth to know what makes you happy?
doppelganger
Through the Looking Glass
It's a question of what purpose you are trying to achieve. I consider mythology, in terms of its purposes, to fall within the same realm as psychology. Even as a "soft" science there still quite a bit of valid testable methodology use in psychology and psychoanalysis. Overall, I consider psychology and psychoanalysis to be considerably superior to myth for the purpose of bringing about spiritual wholeness and emotional well-being, even if it is far less fun sometimes. :rainbow1:
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
Smoke
Done here.
Well, that's a parable. But what truth is contained in that parable?
Jesus explained, "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." But Jonathan Young, the author of the article you link to, says:
Our imaginative responses to these pictures generate abundant additional images, all richly symbolic. This is one way soul speak to us. The passkey is receptivity. If we can be open to this divine flow and reflect on the meanings it presents to us, the inner life is greatly enriched. It is then that we have found the lost coin.
So it seems that maybe meaning, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.
I'm not saying that myth is worthless. Myth is art, and furthermore it's art that has endured because it was valuable and meaningful to generations of people. But the question in the OP wasn't whether it was valuable or meaningful, but whether it was a valuable tool for living, and specifically, whether it's a less valuable tool for living than science.
We can readily see the uses -- and the dangers -- of science, and I think we can say that there's not really any replacement for it, but it's harder to say exactly what the uses of myth are, and to quantify their value as compared to science.
If myth is useful for reaching a deeper understanding of, say, the inner self or the human condition or some other such thing, can we say that it's every bit as useful as psychology, or sociology, or philosophy? I'm not at all sure we can. I tend to think that despite its undeniable value, its uses are largely subjective and hard to describe, whereas the uses of science are objective and obvious.
Both myth and science are essential means of understanding the world, because the world is largely viewed composed in different ways. Of them, science describes the world "physically," and myth depicts our role in the "social" world.
I do not regard one as less valuable than the other.
I do not regard one as less valuable than the other.
Absolutely. Ideally, each set of 'truths' is built upon in a continuous, evolving process, so no one 'truth' is unaffected by progess. But science tends to throw out what no longer works and cling to newer, brighter ideas, whereas myth is telling a rather simple story ("Here's me. There's you.") that hardly ever changes.