The Modern Man Who Lost Relationality after Reading "The Psychology of Myth"

When it comes to mythology, everyone is familiar with the content that is often adapted by film and television dramas or movies, such as Greek and Roman mythology, Egyptian mythology, Norse mythology, etc. Besides, there are countless myths and stories in this world. Even if cultures and races are different, human beings seem to have an underlying desire to "tell stories", trying to describe some distant and unknown issues that are related to their own life habits. For example, the story that occurs in many myths, the "creation of the world", is the response of people to "Where did I come from?"

The author mentions a passage in the book about human beings first realizing their existence, realizing that they are from an unknowable past, and an uncontrollable "presupposition". At a certain young age, we begin to have memory and consciousness, and we begin to look directly at the people and things around us, but we have no idea how our younger self was born and how it was "placed" in this place. But also simply accepted the fact.

This reminds me of a teacher who asked us to recall one of our earliest memories. Only then did I realize that I couldn't find that memory accurately. My childhood memories were like many waves on a vast ocean. Looking around, the waves appeared, but I couldn't see the head and tail. Even if some people claim that they have memories of birth, or that they have memories of "past lives", most of them are probably the same as me, and they are also puzzled by the blank life memories of their childhood. This memory is full of memories that other people told us. Mom said that you were very awkward when you were young. Once you went out, you dumped the whole bowl of rice on the ground because you didn't want to eat, which made her angry. You try hard to recall, you can't think of this memory, but you also accept this "fact". The stories others tell you become the building blocks for you to construct your own "unconscious" period.

Therefore, we seem to have silently realized at an early stage that our own life is an uncontrollable arrangement, and we cannot know how I came and how I left this world by our own cognition alone. When zoomed in to the point of view of humanity as a whole, humanity also loses memory of the exact point when it came to this world. All we can have are stories created by collective inner experience, that is, myths, to fill in the blanks that human beings don’t know yet, and they also reflect life through the repeated death, birth or rebirth in myths. bizarre and impermanent.

Some people may say that contemporary science has been able to answer various questions about the origin of life, and that the "creation" theory of myths and religions can already abdicate. But the author puts forward his view to refute it from a psychological point of view.

When myths are incorporated into a person's cultural values, it not only responds to people's confusion about where life should go, but also supports human beings emotionally. Because when "impermanence" occurs, such as the sudden passing of a loved one, people often wonder in pain: why does this happen to someone they love, and why does it have to happen to their own life? In other words, what we want to know is the "meaning" behind the event, not the cause and effect of the fact itself, and science can often only answer the latter, but cannot give people an answer about the former - the "meaning" of the event.

But the author doesn't go into much detail about how myths affect us, and even how they comfort people. Also because the number of pages in this book is not large, and it continues the author's long-standing style of writing, most of the themes are just to the point.

Another interesting point is the author's discussion on why the pursuit of modern science has caused some people to lose their relationship and have a complete sense of loneliness and powerlessness. Of course, the opposite of this argument is that myths can provide human beings with a certain relationship. Simply put, the relationship structure between ourselves and other people, and even with all things, can be seen in myths. As a result, we can also know our position in the world and maintain our connection with others.

"When one considers 'individual freedom', one feels a strong 'binding'. The Japanese, especially young people, because of the influence of European and American ideas, hope to get rid of such "shackles" and gain freedom. However, after getting rid of the "shackles", when he came back to his senses, he found that he had become completely alone. "

So why does science make us lose our connection? In the book, the author takes several myths from different cultures as examples, and mentions the "anti-natural" state of human beings, that is, a series of behaviors in which human beings take themselves as their own, escape from the state of nature, and try to master and manipulate nature with knowledge. A portrait of mankind moving towards science. The author believes that in fact, the state of "anti-natural" can be seen in many myths, and it may be said that it is the only way for human beings. Just like the theme of "kinslaughter" that frequently appears in myths, it is also a manifestation of the need for human beings to a certain extent. Cut off the relationship with the original, and develop independently. But the mythology will eventually have a chapter about the "marriage" of the hero after the beheading, expressing the reconnection of the relationship, and we cannot ignore this part.

Going back to the point of view mentioned by the original author, human beings in this world, in addition to those big questions about where I came from and where I am going, also have many other confusions. These confusions often operate within us, and myths are often developed based on the inner experience common to all human beings. It can be said that myths give people an outlet to a certain extent and foresee the possibility of all life experiences. Of course, this part is symbolic, and it does not mean that each of us has to actually kill our relatives to gain independence. The author also said that if people cannot understand many puzzled solutions through symbolic experiences of myths, then many violent phenomena in myths may actually occur.

In addition, I also thought about the confusion about human emotions that the author mentions that science is often difficult to understand: do we really know ourselves? Another big question in life is: Who am I? In addition to self-awareness, we also want to know the answer to "who am I" and "what kind of person am I" from others. To explore this question at a deeper level, what we actually want to know is "I survive." What does it mean?” What are the similarities and differences between me and others? And what is my relationship with others?

This probably also shows that in the world, it is difficult for most of us to get rid of the need to connect with "relationships". I don't think what I'm talking about here is not the need for love, friendship or any emotional connection, but the desire to find out where we are Where is it located in the Connaught Starry Sky. This "relationship" need, I think, is also crucial to the survival of the self.

This leads to the blog ~ "Myth Psychology"