arthurian legends, darker & grittier, evolution of media, myth to individual, laws and saints, model for the decline of media literacy, tiktok cores, orienting towards a fractured culture
I wonder if people’s reading/education is too surface level these days to truly imbibe the meanings/symbols of civilization. Such that they don’t even have the startings of deep shared symbols
Hmm I think there's a depth missing for sure, but given that we've been rapidly returning to an oral culture (McLuhan), it feels like if there was unification and good storytelling, the transmission mediums are strong enough to do the job . Myth and symbol operate at quite a primal level (heaven and earth, yin and yang, giants, tower of babel) - unfolding them over time explicitly would need more considered thought and analysis, but internalizing them at a viceral level might not need as much.
I don't think you need the sophistication of text-based literature in order to convey resonant myths that have effect - I'd actually be curious what people mean when they say a film has changed their lives, as I wonder to what extent it did so because it gave them a template for living (e.g did Star Wars actually help people internalize the hero's journey within themselves?) Good video games also do a similar job (I have a friend of a mutual friend of ours who has dark souls tattooed on him).
Your prompting has me thinking though, due to incentive structure differences, that may be in part why good myths don't become as popular (the Odyssey in its full form is less easy to digest maybe), vs superhero movies are (which arguably trying to fulfill a similar role)
Yes, I do think we are returning to an oral culture. In some ways, though, it's a pre-oral culture. The shiny colors, interesting sounds of TikTokified information actually resembles more of a pre-symbolic world in some ways. I think there are mediums that will step up to the plate for a pre-oral culture - for example, this is probably why clowning is getting so popular right now.
I do agree, though, that there are symbols that probably operate at a way more primal level. If they do so, they are operating unconsciously in most people.
I wonder if people’s reading/education is too surface level these days to truly imbibe the meanings/symbols of civilization. Such that they don’t even have the startings of deep shared symbols
Hmm I think there's a depth missing for sure, but given that we've been rapidly returning to an oral culture (McLuhan), it feels like if there was unification and good storytelling, the transmission mediums are strong enough to do the job . Myth and symbol operate at quite a primal level (heaven and earth, yin and yang, giants, tower of babel) - unfolding them over time explicitly would need more considered thought and analysis, but internalizing them at a viceral level might not need as much.
I don't think you need the sophistication of text-based literature in order to convey resonant myths that have effect - I'd actually be curious what people mean when they say a film has changed their lives, as I wonder to what extent it did so because it gave them a template for living (e.g did Star Wars actually help people internalize the hero's journey within themselves?) Good video games also do a similar job (I have a friend of a mutual friend of ours who has dark souls tattooed on him).
Your prompting has me thinking though, due to incentive structure differences, that may be in part why good myths don't become as popular (the Odyssey in its full form is less easy to digest maybe), vs superhero movies are (which arguably trying to fulfill a similar role)
Yes, I do think we are returning to an oral culture. In some ways, though, it's a pre-oral culture. The shiny colors, interesting sounds of TikTokified information actually resembles more of a pre-symbolic world in some ways. I think there are mediums that will step up to the plate for a pre-oral culture - for example, this is probably why clowning is getting so popular right now.
I do agree, though, that there are symbols that probably operate at a way more primal level. If they do so, they are operating unconsciously in most people.
Love this!