Agreed. It also happens to match up to my sense of the timeline: the next 20-30 years are going to be a challenge (to say the least). But when we make it through ...
I also like ad astra because it is an open ended declaration of will, an overcoming of space. It speaks to the collective memory of bronze age chariots and an open steppe. It is archeofuturist.
The myth exists in the minds of the youth through video games—maybe not exactly that of the future as it has historically been, but a myth nonetheless. This medium is the wonder that fuels our imagination, or merely serves as a form of escapism, depending on how it's used.
Not to say that Ad Astra is not a worthy myth of the future either. Elon Musk's fame was built around this very concept—people admire him as someone who's trying to move society as a whole forward.
It's interesting to think how our myths are becoming more fantastical as we evolve as a species.
The myth of the future has to be shared collectively. Otherwise it's just another story conditional on a temporary fad.
I think it was Spengler who gave the example of the Roman soldier found next to a doorway he was guarding in Pompeii. He saw the deadly ash and lava cloud come, but did not move from his post. Why? SPQR.
It is incomprehensible to us now how a people with a shared myth might act and what they might achieve.
I think Elon is the closest to a mythmaker western civilization currently has. Whether by design or accident is another matter.
Yeah that's very true, video games just present a distributed version of myth but do very little in unifying people. Although it could be argued that society is breaking into "nations" based on ideology, interest and values as opposed to geographical location... meaning that the collective myths are shared remotely throughout the world rather than confined to a particular empire like Rome.
Agree on Elon, interestingly he is the only billionaire who has a celebrity like status and is respected by a significant segment of the population. Most other billionaires are either silent or disdained.
Yes, distributed groups today can and sometimes do share a common ethos but these are not myths. Every Warhammer 40K player knows and perhaps shares "For the Emperor!" but this is is not even a tribal story.
Tribes that persist require a common cross-generational bond, usually a blood relation, or, rarer, a sacrifice. For example, the USMC's 'Semper Fi' is a good example of the latter.
By contrast, a functioning myth of the future permeates the civilization carrying it. It is in its roads, architecture, songs, and battle flags. We have lost that.
Perhaps - per aspera ad astra
That's better. Writing adversity into the myth imbues it with a morality and an ethics.
Agreed. It also happens to match up to my sense of the timeline: the next 20-30 years are going to be a challenge (to say the least). But when we make it through ...
I also like ad astra because it is an open ended declaration of will, an overcoming of space. It speaks to the collective memory of bronze age chariots and an open steppe. It is archeofuturist.
The myth exists in the minds of the youth through video games—maybe not exactly that of the future as it has historically been, but a myth nonetheless. This medium is the wonder that fuels our imagination, or merely serves as a form of escapism, depending on how it's used.
Not to say that Ad Astra is not a worthy myth of the future either. Elon Musk's fame was built around this very concept—people admire him as someone who's trying to move society as a whole forward.
It's interesting to think how our myths are becoming more fantastical as we evolve as a species.
The myth of the future has to be shared collectively. Otherwise it's just another story conditional on a temporary fad.
I think it was Spengler who gave the example of the Roman soldier found next to a doorway he was guarding in Pompeii. He saw the deadly ash and lava cloud come, but did not move from his post. Why? SPQR.
It is incomprehensible to us now how a people with a shared myth might act and what they might achieve.
I think Elon is the closest to a mythmaker western civilization currently has. Whether by design or accident is another matter.
Yeah that's very true, video games just present a distributed version of myth but do very little in unifying people. Although it could be argued that society is breaking into "nations" based on ideology, interest and values as opposed to geographical location... meaning that the collective myths are shared remotely throughout the world rather than confined to a particular empire like Rome.
Agree on Elon, interestingly he is the only billionaire who has a celebrity like status and is respected by a significant segment of the population. Most other billionaires are either silent or disdained.
Yes, distributed groups today can and sometimes do share a common ethos but these are not myths. Every Warhammer 40K player knows and perhaps shares "For the Emperor!" but this is is not even a tribal story.
Tribes that persist require a common cross-generational bond, usually a blood relation, or, rarer, a sacrifice. For example, the USMC's 'Semper Fi' is a good example of the latter.
By contrast, a functioning myth of the future permeates the civilization carrying it. It is in its roads, architecture, songs, and battle flags. We have lost that.
Ex astris.
We’re still an too arrogant a species
Ex astris is a statement of fact. We are indeed from the stars. But, myths are not about facts, they need to provide direction.