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1、1ComparisonComparison andand ContrastContrast forfor thethe writingswritings Note: A slightly modified version of this paper appeared in World Futures, 52,. 187-238, 1998. WAKING TO THE RHYTHM OF A NEW MYTH Mythic Perspectives for a World in Distress David Feinstein Ashland, Oregon Ann Mortifee Vanc
2、ouver, British Columbia Stanley Krippner San Francisco, CaliforniaThis essay is concerned with the myths that are leading us into an uncertain future, how they can be understood, how they can be worked with, and how they can be transformed. Some people think a myth is no more than a quaint relic fro
3、m an antiquated culture, a fanciful story created to explain what is not known. More exactly, myth is the way people combine what is known and what is not known into the maps that guide them through their lives. We are continually making choices within largely uncharted waters. We can never be certa
4、in about where these choices will lead, yet we must choose. Our myths serve as the internal maps that invisibly guide us from one choice to the next. While a myth - to be viable for the contemporary mind - must be aligned with our capacity for rational thought, myth-making is as much with us today a
5、s it was thousands of years ago. Myth is, in fact, grounded in the quintessential human ability to address the large questions of existence using symbolism, metaphor, and narrative. And no other species has a guidance system that touches ours for promoting flexibility and creativity in responding to
6、 the environment. The thesis to be developed here is that a new mythology is being born in the human psyche. It is, in fact, already seeping through the cracks of the mythology that has been guiding Western civilization for centuries. Because a cultures new mythology is hammered out on the anvil of
7、individual lives (Feinstein Diamond, 1995). Eventually, as the population on the 64-square-mile island grew to perhaps as many as 20,000 people, the trees were being cut more rapidly than they were regenerating. The need for canoes, houses, and rollers and rope for transporting the gigantic stone he
8、ads finally decimated the forests. The absence of wood for seagoing canoes reduced fish catches. The growing populace consumed the local birds and animals. Erosion and deforestation diminished crop yields. The island could no longer feed its human inhabitants. Many archaeologists believe the politic
9、al and religious establishments that had directed and distributed the local resources languished until the ruling class was finally overthrown. Disorder ensued, and clan fought clan, toppling and finally desecrating each others statues in the process. By the time the Europeans arrived (Easter Sunday
10、, 1772, hence the islands name), the once-fertile land was barren and desolate. Its remaining inhabitants, only a fraction of the numbers a few generations earlier, were heirs to a society that had deteriorated from splendor into violence, starvation, and cannibalism. How could this have happened? I
11、n an astute analysis of Easter Islands ruin, physiologist Jared Diamond (1995) observes that the changes in deforestation occurred so slowly from one year to the next that they were almost impossible to detect. An islander might easily miss the long-term trend, assessing: “This year we cleared those
12、 woods over there, but trees are starting to grow back again on this abandoned garden site here“ (p. 68). Furthermore, Diamond suggests that any islander who issued a warning against the oncoming disaster would have been silenced by vested interests. Chiefs, priests, and stone carvers alike depended
13、 on the status quo to maintain their position and privileges.3Perhaps Easter Islands page in history, if we can discern its lesson, is not just a bleak omen but also an example of mistakes not to make, the miniature enactment of a possible future, a negative instruction manual that can be creatively
14、 studied. Easter Islands history is, so far, a microcosm of our planet (Bahn we are able to reflect on where our guiding myths are leading us. Instantaneously all around the world, we become aware of a war that started but moments ago, and we receive instant replays of its battles. 6We get thirty di
15、fferent points of view from thirty top experts in thirty different disciplines. No longer do one or two newspapers provide the perspective that those in political power would have us hold. Cable television, faxes, e-mail, and the World Wide Web provide competing and unregulated views. Information th
16、at unmasks the propaganda of those who would do our thinking for us is routinely disseminated through the new communications technologies. Unprecedented levels of awareness have been achieved as we form the opinions, motivations, and belief systems - the myths - that are driving our culture. Not only are the distances between us shrinking, but also the time it takes to implement new ideas grows shorter every day. What o
