Couldn't agree more. What a tragedy that for so long we have used the word "myth" as a pejorative, like "myth-busters" or the like. It is a strange thing, but I have embraced "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" as a sequel to the gospels of the Bible. But people would say, but that's just fiction! I now say... so what? What's your point?
I fully agree, and have looked at Zarathustra in much the same way. I think we are about to go around in a circle, or optimistically go back to the Bible as a civilisation (I hope so). Myth shouldn't be a pejorative and I was always disdainful of 'myth-busters' more because it bored me.
Children aren't being pushed to read anymore. They don't know the feeling of holding a physical book in their hands. To them, it's just screens and words.
The reason I read physical books and print my stories, is that I want to hold the book in my hand, and let the other person hold my story.
We Westerners need to hold tight to our traditions before we lose them all.
Oui, c'est vrai, but in the Francosphere and Japan people still read voraciously, and I've had the pleasure of speaking to Kenyans and they still read enthusiastically.
It is primarily the Anglosphere where reading is discouraged.
But holding a physical book is the best and should be encouraged as you said.
I was thinking about something similar recently. I came to the conclusion that I was told or read stories for the first 20 years of my life. Then I went out and lived my own stories for 20 years. And now I get to spend 20 years (if I'm lucky, maybe 🤷♂️) writing them down and making up a few to add to the mix.
Don't miss out on life to write about it, but also don't miss out on the high of writing if you're not truly living either.
The ultimate reason the Anglosphere now shuns art can be traced to the Enlightenment. The Anglo man had grown so prosperous that he began to take said prosperity for granted. This caused him to become arrogant, and in his arrogance, he convinced himself that religion wasn't needed for all the nice material things he now enjoyed. So he abandoned God. He turned away from Heaven under the pretext of conquering the Earth. He stopped caring about quality and focused entirely on quantity. Large quantities of dry scientific facts now mattered more to him than the high quality wisdom found in fine fiction. This explains why the modern world is so wretched and hideous. People care more about large numbers on spreadsheets than they do about beauty. If something cannot be quantified, then they reject it outright.
Sadly true, I see the same thing happening in other countries that care only about the Enlightenment, and yet it seems that it hasn't fully happened in the same way in France, which was affected by Enlightenment also.
But this love of quantity over quality does worry me, hopefully we'll see change take place in a positive way in that regard.
I tutor a little girl who is 5. Over the past few years I’ve bought old classics to build her future reading library. Books like Peter Pan and Alice and Wonderland. One day I read an article her parents have recommending parts censor certain books like Peter Pan and others. Sad.
I checked out her school boook list for all kids TK -8 and few of the older stories are available, but are replaced with new woke stories. 🙈
What those schools are doing to kids, is horrible it breaks my heart. Try bringing up maybe Hobbit, Ivanhoe, Treasure Island and Mark Twain's Joan of Arc, those are good for kids.
Ohhh okay, that's cool, sounds like these parents are sharp.
You three make a great team if you don't mind my saying so, I really hope to be a parent like them and a teacher like you when I finally land on my feet in Asia.
With every comment and discussion Mme, you become even cooler.
Life is so busy...I love to read, especially fiction, but I often feel guilty for not "being productive", and I really have a lot I have to do. I read a lot of Substack, mainly because I write here myself and want to support other writers in the community, as well as engage with my own readers. It seems like as a society we've just gotten too busy to read. I sorely miss it. I do feel like I've done at least something right, because my 14-year-old keeps a book with her pretty much all the time.
So many excellent thoughts on the need & benefits of Myth and Fantasy throughout our shared human history - something we require now more than ever in our modern lives. 👑
Thanks a bunch for the kindly words, and yeah we definitely need more stories than ever before, if only to re-affirm our values, our beliefs and also to help with escapism.
Them and by that matter, any other type of authoritarian slime. Suffice to say, the Japanese engineers and their helpers sent plenty of angry links to certain people back on Earth. Many more Terrans, hundreds of thousands arrived on Lothoria. The industrious retainers of Clan Shimazu weren’t the only ones whose noble Human blood boiled. Their very soul burned with furious purpose and want, the iron determination to transform crushed peons and abused serfs into freedom-loving people.
Holden and Einar were to join this legion of trainers, teachers, and builders – lend their helping hand. Aid they would provide and aplenty, though not by way of medispray or crafting tool, but with sword and railgun. The presence of a morale officer meant that many more a life would be saved, and spirits emboldened.
Armaments failed, flesh faltered, breath was finite and blood eventually ran dry. People’s minds touched by the Terran Word, however, they became indomitable. One could no longer scare them, for Terrans learned them how to fear and even embrace terror.
Caressed gently, tucked deep within their very hearts, was an overwhelming horror of a future full of endless servitude. The fright which all Lothorian parents, now having experienced real freedom, they would never wish any form of slavery to visit their progeny."
Couldn't agree more. What a tragedy that for so long we have used the word "myth" as a pejorative, like "myth-busters" or the like. It is a strange thing, but I have embraced "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" as a sequel to the gospels of the Bible. But people would say, but that's just fiction! I now say... so what? What's your point?
I fully agree, and have looked at Zarathustra in much the same way. I think we are about to go around in a circle, or optimistically go back to the Bible as a civilisation (I hope so). Myth shouldn't be a pejorative and I was always disdainful of 'myth-busters' more because it bored me.
Awesome, man. Love it.
Children aren't being pushed to read anymore. They don't know the feeling of holding a physical book in their hands. To them, it's just screens and words.
The reason I read physical books and print my stories, is that I want to hold the book in my hand, and let the other person hold my story.
We Westerners need to hold tight to our traditions before we lose them all.
Oui, c'est vrai, but in the Francosphere and Japan people still read voraciously, and I've had the pleasure of speaking to Kenyans and they still read enthusiastically.
It is primarily the Anglosphere where reading is discouraged.
But holding a physical book is the best and should be encouraged as you said.
Udemy I've found to be pretty good, not familiar with Brilliant, how is it?
Ohhh I see good point
Good advice
I was thinking about something similar recently. I came to the conclusion that I was told or read stories for the first 20 years of my life. Then I went out and lived my own stories for 20 years. And now I get to spend 20 years (if I'm lucky, maybe 🤷♂️) writing them down and making up a few to add to the mix.
Don't miss out on life to write about it, but also don't miss out on the high of writing if you're not truly living either.
Good read, thanks ❤️
Bienvenue, I think you're absolutely right in that we must live but we must also write. Happy writing brother.
The ultimate reason the Anglosphere now shuns art can be traced to the Enlightenment. The Anglo man had grown so prosperous that he began to take said prosperity for granted. This caused him to become arrogant, and in his arrogance, he convinced himself that religion wasn't needed for all the nice material things he now enjoyed. So he abandoned God. He turned away from Heaven under the pretext of conquering the Earth. He stopped caring about quality and focused entirely on quantity. Large quantities of dry scientific facts now mattered more to him than the high quality wisdom found in fine fiction. This explains why the modern world is so wretched and hideous. People care more about large numbers on spreadsheets than they do about beauty. If something cannot be quantified, then they reject it outright.
Sadly true, I see the same thing happening in other countries that care only about the Enlightenment, and yet it seems that it hasn't fully happened in the same way in France, which was affected by Enlightenment also.
But this love of quantity over quality does worry me, hopefully we'll see change take place in a positive way in that regard.
Thanks for explaining it to me, I appreciate it.
Ah I see and yeah
I tutor a little girl who is 5. Over the past few years I’ve bought old classics to build her future reading library. Books like Peter Pan and Alice and Wonderland. One day I read an article her parents have recommending parts censor certain books like Peter Pan and others. Sad.
I checked out her school boook list for all kids TK -8 and few of the older stories are available, but are replaced with new woke stories. 🙈
What those schools are doing to kids, is horrible it breaks my heart. Try bringing up maybe Hobbit, Ivanhoe, Treasure Island and Mark Twain's Joan of Arc, those are good for kids.
The parents of the little girl I tutor have a list of appropriate books and inappropriate books. And they follow the list. 🙈
A lot of old classics are on that book. It’s just a standard me when they were warned not read peter pan.
Ohhh okay, that's cool, sounds like these parents are sharp.
You three make a great team if you don't mind my saying so, I really hope to be a parent like them and a teacher like you when I finally land on my feet in Asia.
With every comment and discussion Mme, you become even cooler.
Life is so busy...I love to read, especially fiction, but I often feel guilty for not "being productive", and I really have a lot I have to do. I read a lot of Substack, mainly because I write here myself and want to support other writers in the community, as well as engage with my own readers. It seems like as a society we've just gotten too busy to read. I sorely miss it. I do feel like I've done at least something right, because my 14-year-old keeps a book with her pretty much all the time.
That's awesome, that your kid reads so much, it gives me hope. As to yourself I do feel you, there is so much to read here and so much to do.
I wholeheartedly agree. Stories, myths, legends are almost as essential to the human experience as food and water. They bring us together.
Exactement, that’s always how I’ve felt, without myths and stories there’d be no point in living.
So many excellent thoughts on the need & benefits of Myth and Fantasy throughout our shared human history - something we require now more than ever in our modern lives. 👑
Thanks a bunch for the kindly words, and yeah we definitely need more stories than ever before, if only to re-affirm our values, our beliefs and also to help with escapism.
Here is some fuel for your gray cells, mon ami:
"Humans had no love for enslavers.
Them and by that matter, any other type of authoritarian slime. Suffice to say, the Japanese engineers and their helpers sent plenty of angry links to certain people back on Earth. Many more Terrans, hundreds of thousands arrived on Lothoria. The industrious retainers of Clan Shimazu weren’t the only ones whose noble Human blood boiled. Their very soul burned with furious purpose and want, the iron determination to transform crushed peons and abused serfs into freedom-loving people.
Holden and Einar were to join this legion of trainers, teachers, and builders – lend their helping hand. Aid they would provide and aplenty, though not by way of medispray or crafting tool, but with sword and railgun. The presence of a morale officer meant that many more a life would be saved, and spirits emboldened.
Armaments failed, flesh faltered, breath was finite and blood eventually ran dry. People’s minds touched by the Terran Word, however, they became indomitable. One could no longer scare them, for Terrans learned them how to fear and even embrace terror.
Caressed gently, tucked deep within their very hearts, was an overwhelming horror of a future full of endless servitude. The fright which all Lothorian parents, now having experienced real freedom, they would never wish any form of slavery to visit their progeny."
I hope that one day, you will be proud to call yourself Bulgarophile :D Ivan Vazov might help with that!
I sure will, are you from Bulgaria? I intend to look ever more into Ivan Vazov
Indeed! I think I posted one of his epic poems a couple of weeks ago. Btw, how is your reading schedule?
Like it is written in the Terran Morale Officer Handbook “The New is not necessarily better, just as the Old isn't always useless.”